


Ride to Being

by Spookje



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bikers, Alternate Universe - Sports, BMX, Blood and Violence, Competition, Corruption, Crime Fighting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fights, M/M, OT12 (EXO), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:47:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 52,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22639498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spookje/pseuds/Spookje
Summary: Baekhyun is training to become a pro BMXer in the small town where a vicious motor gang terrorizes the neighbourhood. After his first win, to which he promised reward himself with a tattoo, he finds out his favourite tattoo artist is a biker.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen, Kim Minseok | Xiumin/Lu Han
Comments: 21
Kudos: 100





	1. [1/7]

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh I started this in 2018 and I missed the perfect timing when Tempo came out. Nonetheless, nobody gets tired of motorcycles, right? Enjoy reading! Also thanks to my beta'er [Swolosheep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swolosheep)

The best part of the track was always the first jump. Baekhyun stood on deck of the quarter-pipe, looking out over the ring. It held several ramps, rails and a mean-looking channel. One foot on the paddle of his BMX, the other keeping him grounded in the quiet before the storm. He took a deep breath and let the audience’s sounds die as his vision focused on the clouds above him. A palpable tension shook through his core, he can’t let fear get the better of him. From the second his feet left the ground and the wheels took over, he felt alive.

The feeling didn’t last long and Baekhyun still bore the aftermath of his fall. A millimetre off and his bike missed the balance, causing it to slip and get stuck. Face first he launched over his own vehicle. Humiliating to say the least, the competition lost alongside his hope to win. A look in the mirror told him his skin had some issues recovering too. The scraped skin on his forehead and nose was still red and angry.

He had been a BMX rider since the age of 13. Only a few years later he started competing, though he never found success after reaching the adult competitions. Actually, he caught himself making stupid mistakes more often than not. He always imagined himself becoming a world champion. He did not give up his dream, like he had given up on college to pursue said dream.

It was Saturday and the ring was already buzzling with people. Living in a relatively small city meant only one ring, shared by riders, skaters and wheelers. It was not too bad, even though it would get a little dangerous with skateboards losing their owners and so many going flat-faced in the pit.

‘Looking good, baby. Going for red today?’ Chanyeol yelled from across the room. It took Baekhyun a moment longer to spot him.

‘Shut up, dick,’ Baekhyun sneered back as he approached him.

‘I meant the make-up. But yeah, your face looks pretty beaten up too.’ He grinned devilishly.

‘Do you like it?’ Baekhyun put his fists on his chin and pouted his lips. With eyeliner and a smoky red on his eyelids, Baekhyun surely made a name out of himself over the years, both in the ring and in competitions. Chanyeol used to join him in the black and bright neon colours in dress and paints on his face, but he ‘grew out of it’. Whatever, let him be the goddamn hipster he wants to be, Baekhyun enjoyed the alternative style better.

‘You know I’d never tell you otherwise,’ Chanyeol replied and gave him a hug. When he retracted, he inspected Baekhyun’s scabs. ‘That must have hurt. Are you alright?’

Baekhyun sighed. ‘I’m fine, it’s just my ego that is hurt. I fell face flat at the second jump. I’m such a failure.’

Chanyeol’s hand that still rested on his shoulder rubbed soothing circles.

‘Don’t beat yourself up, you will do better next time.’

Baekhyun nodded a silent thank you. Even though they played around often, Chanyeol always knew the right things to say. Another familiar face joined their circle.

‘Hey guys-, wow, Baekhyun. Your face.’ The man stumbled over his words when he saw Baekhyun. ‘I take it you didn’t win the competition?’

‘Hey Jongin. Nope, Zitao won, which would have been the case even if I didn’t eat concrete.’ Baekhyun joked. Chanyeol had introduced him to Jongin, a few years his junior and avid skateboarder like Chanyeol.

‘Zitao is so talented,’ Jongin said without a thought. You could see the moment he realized his words with Baekhyun right next to him, a shock of horror quickly followed by soft compliments how talented he is too.

‘It’s okay, I know it’s true. It’s a good thing he’s a friend too. Have you seen him today?’

Chanyeol shook his head. ‘Not yet. Anyhow, it’s time to practice.’ He kicked the skateboard’s tail and caught it with his hand. They waved goodbye and all took their separate jumps into the ring.

Baekhyun went to train with some of the other BMXers. It was a shame Chanyeol left riding after a few years. He excused himself from the sport saying his legs were too long for those tiny bikes, yet Zitao had as much leg as him and managed just fine. On occasion, he would ride with him, and Baekhyun would take up the skateboard every once in a while too.

Nowadays, his days at the ring were purely training, not the fun lollygagging they used to do. He had to, if he wanted to become pro. Baekhyun promised his mom to eat home tonight, otherwise he would have pushed himself to train longer. At 5pm, he called it a day. Chanyeol spotted him trying to come over to him.

‘Meet you tonight?’ Chanyeol asked, looking as sweaty as Baekhyun felt. He had been trying to master a new trick, but it was more difficult than expected.

Baekhyun nodded. ‘See you at the bar.’

Around 3 days a week, Baekhyun and his friends met up at their local bar called Shinin’. They used to hang out at the Skating hall all evening, but nowadays they lock up early after some unsupervised accidents happened. Luckily, they were of legal age when they fortified the rule, otherwise they’d be forced to hang on the streets like most young skaters do.

Since Chanyeol only lives a block away from Baekhyun, they met up at Baekhyun’s house to walk together. They were a little shocked to find over five burly motorcycles in front of the bar.

Chanyeol gaped at them, barely containing himself from touching.

‘These are so cool!’ He exclaimed.

‘Don’t say that, haven’t you heard about the Devil’s Desert from the town next to us?’ Baekhyun spat. The local news had been filled with their name.

‘One of them has a pink bike… They cannot be that bad, right? Should have called themselves Devil’s Dessert instead.’ Chanyeol scoffed at the sturdy Harley, elegant in shape, the pure prime of masculine pride, dyed candy cane pink.

‘Don’t let that fool you. They’ve been terrorizing neighbourhoods. Last week, the news was even covering a shooting.’ 

‘Shit eh, you think they’re onto the next town to ruin it? Didn’t they break down the city hall over there?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘Possibly. I don’t want any trouble, so let’s stay out of their way to be sure.’

Those words were short-lived. They entered the bar and found the supposed biker group sitting at their table. Theirs as in, they sat there every time since they first came here 4 years ago.

‘They’re on our spot,’ Chanyeol whispered. Baekhyun shushed him. They didn’t look as threatening as the news made them believe. Most of them were even their age, they couldn’t be the same gang that got the neighbourhood’s panties in a twist.

The bartender greeted Baekhyun and Chanyeol and then called out to the bikers for another beer.

‘Give the newcomers some too,’ one man said and pointed towards the pair. With charcoaled eyes and curled lips, all visible skin covered in tattoos, he caught Baekhyun’s attention right away. 

Before Baekhyun could speak, Chanyeol bowed down and thanked them. He dragged Baekhyun away to the table at the back, where Jongin was sitting with his back towards them.

‘What was that about?’ Baekhyun asked. He was about to initiate the conversation. Chanyeol gave him a ‘don’t fight with me now’ and only let him go when Baekhyun sat down.

‘Hey,’ Jongin said.

‘Those people stole our place!’ Baekhyun replied. He glanced back at the group, finding the same man staring back at him.

Jongin shrugged. ‘They probably didn’t know.’

‘I’m sure they’re just visiting. Let them have their night, we’ll have our spot back in no time.’ Chanyeol placed an arm around Baekhyun.

If only it was the last of them they saw.

The next weeks were much the same for Baekhyun, the evenings at the bar a small relief from his strenuous training. 

‘You look like shit,’ Chanyeol practically screamed through the near-empty bar. The bikers, sitting at their spot again, gazed and laughed.

Baekhyun prowled to the table and dropped himself unceremoniously on the chair.

‘I’m so tired. I think I’m going to die.’ He dramatically added. With a competition in three weeks, his days saw him painstakingly driving his body to the limits. The laughter of his friends was welcomed by him, a great distraction from his internal struggles.

Jongin gave him a sympathetic half-smile, whereas Zitao patted his shoulder like he could slap the sleep out of Baekhyun.

‘You’re training very hard,’ He said, a little hesitant with his words. He couldn’t say Baekhyun was doing a good job, because the last three times they met in the ring he had only witnessed Baekhyun’s wipe-outs and seeing him grump as he cleaned up dried blood on the ramps.

In reply he nodded absently.

‘Some alcohol?’ Chanyeol raised his glass in emphasis.

Not much of a drinker, despite how tempting the mind-numbing alcohol could be, he declined.

‘Cola, please.’

The taller man nodded and walked to the bar. Before he reached it, he bumped into the tall biker who had stood up in such a quick manner, Chanyeol had not seen him coming. The ash-blonde guy showed his open palms, then placed a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. They both laughed and their interaction ended with the coke on the bar with the man paying for it.

Chanyeol returned to the table with a smile on his face.

‘It’s on Yifan,’ he said with sly smile.

Baekhyun raised his eyebrow and before he could make a snarky comment, Chanyeol already lifted his finger to shush him.

‘So you’re playing with the devil now, Chanyeol?’ Jongin asked quietly.

The others cocked his head towards the youngest.

‘I heard they’re part of the motor gang nearby. My mother heard a ruckus a few nights ago. And look at that guy,’ he nudged with his head towards the bikers’ table, ‘one of them has a black eye. He must have been involved in that fight.’

Baekhyun curiously turned around, but Jongin grabbed his hand and pulled him back again. He was met with a ‘don’t’ face. Each had heard of suspicious stories, whether it was second-hand from their families or first-hand finding the damage the alleged biker gang had done.

‘I can’t believe you’re fixing your make-up before your turn…’ Chanyeol said. His laughter boomed in the locker room.

‘I hope that if my skills won’t catch the public’s eye, at least the purple eyeshadow will.’ Baekhyun joked while he sprayed himself in a mist setting spray. Baekhyun had spent the last months training, finding no success in the previous two participated competitions. Now that Zitao was out of the run, some family matters he said, Baekhyun’s chances increased.

Chanyeol joined him as they walked on the upper ring to check out the competition ring. Smaller contests often held the competition in the same which they’d practice. Riders would practice to keep their muscles warm or kill the time, so the practice rings were always bustling before the competition started.

‘Looks like a good day to win, Baekhyun.’ Chanyeol gazed at their surroundings, from the deep diving pit to ramps and a half-pipe, with the stage prefixed to the ring.

‘Just because it’s a sunny day doesn’t mean it’ll shine for me. Let’s scope out the competition.’

As they reached the practice ring a loud rumble arose from the participants as they rushed to one corner of the practice area. Chanyeol and Baekhyun ran over.

‘Oh my God, it’s Kim Minseok!’ A person next to them screamed. The man in question stood next to the host of the contest, smiling at the small audience that had formed.

‘I’m judging from your face this is the guy you idolize so much,’ Chanyeol said, smiling amused at Baekhyun.

Kim Minseok, renowned BMXer by any respectable rider, one of the few that broke through internationally and continued to ace any competition he performed in. Despite his strong performances, he carried himself humbly with a coy smile as the host took questions from the audience for him to answer. Before long, he was already whisked away and the group dispersed.

‘Some extra motivation, eh,’ Chanyeol said with a chuckle.

When the announcer called out Baekhyun’s name, he parted ways with Chanyeol, receiving a big thumbs up from him as he went through the gate onto the ring. The crowd cheered and to his surprise he heard some of them chant his name. He wrote it off as probably the riders from their skate hall, these local competitions were usually filled with familiar faces.

He started off well with an aerial on the ramp, using the momentum for an extra 360 as he cycled to the bar. With one beat too late, and his speed too high, he missed the jump. He swerved his front wheel, but it was too late as it got stuck into the railing. He flung off the bike. Even with arm protections, he fell on them hard. A pain shot through the bone of his left hand. In that moment, he knew it was over.

He rolled over and got up on his feet in a reflex. A sigh escaped his mouth when he confirmed his suspicion.

‘-holding his wrist compromisingly, that looks like a broken bone. Is contestant number 14 out?’ The announcer’s voice rang through the loud speakers.

Baekhyun wanted to scream. This did not only fuck up the competition, but his training and subsequent competitions for the next 6 weeks as well. That is, if his arm was only broken in one spot.

He zoned out while the medic looked him over and other staff removed his bike and guided him outside the ring. They placed him on a bench next to the first aid tent.

‘Hey,’ someone patted him on the shoulder and sat down next to him. Baekhyun turned to look at the man, knowing it was not one of his friends as he was sat down on the contestants-only area. He flinched when he came face to face with none other than Kim Minseok. The man noticed and chuckled.

‘You did well. You showed good potential during practice, sucks you crashed, man.’

Baekhyun swooned, his heart raising like the adrenaline just started kicking in. He couldn’t help but stare at the slightly older man. He was extremely handsome. His eyes were big and almond shaped. Despite the usual lanky muscled bodies of riders, Minseok was buff with a protruding chest and strong arms. His arms and legs were covered in tattoos. He always wore them on display in a tank top and shorts while he rode.

‘I really love your tattoos.’ Baekhyun blurted out.

‘Thanks. I really love them too. Do you have any tattoos yourself?’

Baekhyun returned his eyes to the smiling man. ‘No, but I want to get one. When did you get your first?’

‘A real one? After I won my first competition. My best friend is a tattoo artist, so when I first qualified for one of the bigger competitions in the region, he tattooed my butt the night before I had to ride. One for good luck, he said. I regretted it dearly. You know how much your butt moves when you cycle?!’ He laughed.

‘Anyhow, I promised him he would be the first one to ink my body. He is still the only one I go to, but he’s is getting a bit too excited with it. He already has ink planned for every inch of my body.’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘That’s so cool.’

Minseok mimicked the movement, ‘so, do you have any tattoos?’ he asked.

‘No. I want them, though. Like you,’ Baekhyun stuttered. God, why did he have to be such a loser in front of his idol. It made the man laugh as he picked himself up and hit Baekhyun’s shoulder.

‘Get well and see you in the next competition, okay?’

‘Okay,’ he replied on auto pilot, falling on deaf ears as Minseok had already walked off.

The ride to the hospital was accompanied by Chanyeol and Jongin, the latter being unusually disappointed. ‘This was the first BMX tournament you bring me with, and I only got to see three contestants.’ He pouted as he reclined his head. It was his own fault for taking so long to get snacks that he missed the first 11 contestants. Chanyeol, on the other hand, was openly fanboying with Baekhyun about his encounter with Minseok. Of course he had seen it and even made a video of it.

‘The hell, Chanyeol. That is really creepy!’

Chanyeol shook his head. ‘Nu uh, once you’re a big star, I’ll leak these videos and entertain all your fans with your awkwardness.’

The reality of his broken arm hit him only when his friends left and he laid in bed. He didn’t even have any hobbies besides riding.

He met up with his friends at Shinin’ a week later. It was the same old as always, except they were a little kinder to Baekhyun.

‘I dare say, Baekhyun, you do look more well rested. How are you filling your days?’ Zitao asked.

‘You know, sleeping, watching BMX videos, helping my mom around the house. I might as well help old ladies cross the street. I’m so bored.’

Zitao gave him a sympathetic smile.

‘Why don’t you help around the ring? There is always shit to be fixed and I miss you,’ Chanyeol said, pouting as he spoke the last three words.

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘Might as well.’ He could use the extra exercise.

‘Next round?’ Jongin asked and in unison the rest replied with the same words. Baekhyun stood up and walked to the bar. The bartender never paid much attention to his loyal customers, so more often than not, they walked to the bar instead of raise their hand.

Three cold beers tapped and one coke later, Baekhyun was about to yell out for some help when a hand touched his back and someone appeared next to him.

‘Need some help?’ It was one of the bikers, the one that had given them a drink first time they came across them. Much like them, the bikers had become regulars. His eyes squinted as he smiled.

Baekhyun opened his mouth, but closed it after. The man was actually really hot. His fingers drummed on the edge of the bar, adorning more rings than Baekhyun had ever seen anyone wear, tattoos peaking underneath them and on his hands. 

‘What happened to your arm?’ The man asked.

‘I… Fell.’ Baekhyun replied.

‘Oh.’ he pouted. ‘That must have hurt.’

‘Yeah. I think the aftermath hurts more, though. Fucking sucks, walking around with this shit.’

The man gave a sympathetic nod. He then turned to the bartender and took his order. The bartender in turn realized Baekhyun’s situation and handed him a splatter. While Baekhyun put the drinks on it, he felt the man’s glare. When Baekhyun looked up from his work, he smiled again.

‘I’m Jongdae, by the way.’

‘Baekhyun.’

Another pat on the back and he was back to his table.

The next day Baekhyun slept in before heading to the skating hall. He got scolded for bringing his skateboard, but was ‘allowed’ to use it only on ground floor for tricks, but also only when Chanyeol was nearby, and the tricks shouldn’t be too complicated. Baekhyun rolled his eyes when he agreed. It was not like he was going to ruin his chances of a fast recovery by being reckless. Yet, he tended to be a little impulsive and easily challenged, so he understood the implications Chanyeol was thinking off well. Other moments he would be aiding the youngsters with tricks, repairing small things around the hall for the owner or running around with a first aid kit for the umpteenth time.

The next evening in the bar, the topic of tattoos arose after Baekhyun spammed Chanyeol with pictures of Minseok’s tattoos he posted on social media. 

‘Do you ever want tattoos?’ Baekhyun asked Jongin. A look of appalment crossed his features.

‘No.’

‘Why not? They’re pretty. Even Chanyeol has some.’ He had some lettering and small scribbles. They were cute, but Baekhyun actually liked bigger pieces of art more.

‘I don’t think pretty is the word most people would use for black ink carved into your flesh,’ Chanyeol pitched in, ‘you always said you liked them, but never actually got one. What are you waiting for?’

Baekhyun gave it a moment’s thought. ‘Actually, I promised myself I would get one when, or if, I ever win. My parents would kill me if I used their money on it, so with the prize money I would be able to afford it on my own.’

‘Didn’t the one that keeps talking to you have a ton of tattoos?’ Jongin asked.

‘He did. His aren’t as pretty as those that Minseok has though.’ He opened one of Minseok’s social media on his phone and showed him some of his favourites. 

‘Do you think he’s gay? I’m starting to fall in love with this guy,’ Chanyeol said. Baekhyun could not figure out if he was joking or not.

‘Bitch, you stay away from him. If anything, I saw him first.’

Chanyeol pouted. ‘Not fair. I bet he is into tall guys.’

‘Sure, Mr. Pro rider would be into guys that hit their kneecaps on their bikes.’

‘Guys, I don’t think you’d either have a shot with him. You know, since he’s a celebrity and you are-’

‘Since we’re what, Jongin?’ Baekhyun stood up to tease him.

‘Nothing!’ He relented when Baekhyun pinched the back of his neck.

They were distracted when a sudden commotion started at the biker table. Even the bartender was howling as Jongdae appeared at the front door with a quirky smile on his face. Various slurs of ‘Champion’, ‘prison breaker’ and ‘rebel’ were spouted. They watched on as the situation began to unfold. The one who introduced himself to Baekhyun, Jongdae, was embraced by his friends, them dragging him onto the extended rounded couch of the table. The bartender gave him a cold one. They clinked glasses and chugged their glasses all together.

‘What is that about?’ They asked the bartender when he came around for their order for once.

‘Oh, Jongdae spent a night in prison.’ He replied with a chuckle. His face went a little red when he noticed the scandalized faces of his guests. ‘I mean, it is not the first time.’ He said like that was supposed to be some sort of comfort. He scurried off quickly after that.

‘Damn, they really don’t play around, do they?’ Jongin asked.

‘And I was starting to think they were pretty alright,’ Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun was making his comeback, after three months of recovery and training. There were a few before this, but he had not been ready yet. Perhaps that was one of the issues. Always too eager to give it a shot, which made him reckless and desiring results he wouldn’t get overnight. This time was different though. The night before he stared at himself in the mirror, pepping himself for what was to come. His bathroom smelled like bleach, the roots of his hair matching the fried fuchsia purple locks below. It was ‘just’ a local tournament, but it was one big enough to attract the higher players in the game too. If he could win this, he would be ready for the next regional tournament next month too. He wasn’t bold enough to think that he could win that too, but just showing his face again and letting people view his new skills would provide him more platform the next time around.

The announcer called him and he appeared from the back onto the starting zone. He glanced around and spotted his friends. Chanyeol was jumping and flailing his arms, while the other BMXers of the hall supported various looks. From excited to supportive, from laughing at Chanyeol to facing away from Chanyeol. For the occasion, his parents were even there. They sat inconspicuous in the back, cheerful but probably worried too. They were supportive of his work, but they would be even more supportive if Baekhyun found a stable income and didn’t get himself injured as often as he did.

‘This rider is finally back in the scene after months of hiding, his hair as brightly purple as it has ever been. A broken arm doesn’t stop Byun Baekhyun!’ The announcer’s voice boomed through the area. He turned towards Baekhyun and patted him on the shoulder. ‘Do your best, kiddo.’

Baekhyun took one deep breath before he made his descend from the slope. With the speed accumulated, he barrelled to the ramp. He had his usual tricks practiced to perfection, focusing on fluid movements rather than the execution of as many as possible within the short frame of time had. The time alarm went off. With sweat on his forehead, he sank down on the bench outside the ring. A smile creeped up on his face, a euphoria of finishing his round exactly as planned. The previously performed contestant, who sat next to him, gave him a slap at his back.

‘You were so good, you’ll definitely win.’

And to his surprise, Baekhyun indeed won.

The very next day, Baekhyun headed to the tattoo parlour. Through social media he found out where Minseok gets his tattoos done. He also figured out his idol lived near his home town, as well as had affiliations with the local artist named Lay. Zhang Yixing, or Lay, had done most of the artwork around the skate hall. Famous for his legal street art, earning himself various exhibitions around the region.

Finding Jongdae in the shop was not entirely surprising, but still shocking nonetheless.

‘Will you look at that. Purple hair and all, finally relinquishing for some real pain?’ Jongdae smirked at him.

‘Oh, you here.’ Baekhyun acted nonchalant. He worked so hard on avoiding the bikers at the bar, only to be forced into conversation with one here. He ignored Jongdae’s stare and looked around, taking in all the artwork on the wall. He recognized some of the artists, some of the more renowned street artists around town seemed to have taken a liking to. He went to Lay’s work that popped out immediately. Could not cycle if his life depended on it, but the man sure could paint.

‘Lay, the owner knows him?’ Baekhyun asked, to no one in particular, but Jongdae chipped in regardless.

‘If by owner, you mean me, then yes.’ He placed the emphasis on ‘me’.

Baekhyun could feel the man’s eyes on him, prodding him for a clarification on why he was here. So he did what anyone else would do in that situation. Turn his back to him and take another gander around.

‘So, are you actually here to get some ink? It’s not a free museum, you know.’

Baekhyun snorted. ‘I changed my mind the moment I saw your face.’ He mimicked the smirk the other had so cockily displayed.

‘Your loss, sweetie. I’m the best in town, but sure go get a little heart tattoo on your wrist for 5 at the next best one. You know where to find me when you want the real deal.’

Baekhyun scowled. But maybe, he was a little intrigued too. Judging by the art on Minseok’s body, he could only assume how good some of his other work would be.

Unabashedly, he walked to the counter and grabbed the reference book. He seated himself on the red lounger, ignoring the laughter coming from across the room.

Baekhyun did not want to admit it, but Jongdae’s work was marvellous. His art style was exactly what Baekhyun liked. Even when he drew in a different style, it was still unquestionable his.

‘Like what you see?’ Jongdae loomed over him, his signature smile on. He handed him a steaming cup, before planting himself next to Baekhyun on the seat. He was also still, very, very handsome.

The sip he took made him scrunch his face. ‘What is this, did you put sugar in my tea?’

Jongdae shrugged. ‘I thought you’d like it. I’ve only seen you drink cola at the bar, so you’re probably still too young for coffee. Maybe in a few years you’ll grow to love it.’ He took Baekhyun’s punch to the shoulder with a laugh.

‘How old do you really think I am?’ He squinted his eyes.

‘Honestly, with the purple hair and striped gloves, I’d say you’re 16.’

He knew Jongdae was joking, but he barely could restrain himself from lashing back. ‘Well you look like you’re 60, who even rides lowriders anymore? Hanging out with old men, you’re halfway through your mid-life crisis already!’

Jongdae nearly toppled over with laughter. Not exactly the reaction he expected.

‘Anyway, I have a client in a bit. You can wait around or you can message me with the kind of design you want to see. I’ll draw it up and we can discuss the details on it after you make an appointment.’ His hand rested on Baekhyun’s shoulder for a moment, turning just in time for the door to open.

Baekhyun snapped a few pictures of the reference pictures, then returned the book and headed home. By the time he reached home, he had thought enough about the design to feel the jittery excitement of getting it on his skin. He texted Jongdae his idea, accompanied with various pictures online and his own sketch. The latter rewarded him with a crying-laughing emoji and a ‘please don’t become an artist’ reply.

His tattoo idea got mixed reactions from his friends when they met him at Shinin’. Chanyeol was excited after Baekhyun showed the sketch Jongdae had drawn, but Jongin’s face fell when he found out how big it’d be.

‘Are you sure about that? It’s like the majority of your lower leg!’

‘Yeah, it’s going to look wicked!’

Jongin bit his lip. ‘And you’re getting it done by some biker gang member?’

Baekhyun waved him off. ‘Minseok gets his tattoos from him too. Even Lay hangs out with him.’

‘You don’t even know either of them in person, you’d jump in a pool of fire if Minseok did it…’

Chanyeol chipped in before Baekhyun could reply, ‘I agree with Jongin, it’s a little weird you have a sudden change of heart the very next day you learn that this guy is a good tattoo artist. Don’t you remember he stayed in prison?!’

‘I know… I don’t want to be associated with him either, but I’ve admired his work before I learned it was this guy. But, if he has any work ethics, he won’t mutilate my body or sell me to a foreign country.’

‘Why don’t you think about it some more?’ Jongin said.

‘At least let me come with you, Baekhyun.’ Chanyeol requested.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

A week later, he returned to the parlour. Some R&B track was playing. When he walked in further, Jongdae popped his head out from behind the corner.

‘Oh hey, just preparing the last bits. Come on over.’

Jongdae pointed him to the chair. He was bent over a small expandable desk on wheels, with various equipment on top.

‘Are you excited? I’m excited.’ Jongdae asked while he prepared the pigments.

‘A little nervous…’

‘Are you afraid it’ll hurt? You took kind of a sensitive place to put it, but it’ll look good afterwards, trust me.’

Jongdae continued some small talk while he shaved Baekhyun’s leg around the part he’d be tattooing. Baekhyun had never had his legs shaven before, let alone by some half-stranger. It was a strangely sensual experience, the utter care the man took into shaving and cleaning/

‘So this is your first tattoo, right?’

Baekhyun nodded.

‘Nice. Nothing gets me more thrilled than tainting virgin skin.’

‘I’m starting to regret this more and more.’

‘It could have been worse, I could have said that I’m marking you.’

‘My friend is a furry, but still you manage to creep me out more. Good job.’ Baekhyun rolled his eyes, earning another laughter from the artist.

They got acquainted with each other over heavy rock playing in the background with the presence buzzing of the needles. Baekhyun explained his passion for cycling, the struggles he faced getting towards his first decent achievement since he hit adulthood and his wish to become a world BMX star. It was strangely comfortable, the way Jongdae would nod or give little affirmations.

‘You’re a pretty good listener,’ he said.

‘And you’re a pretty good talker. Do you usually become chatty when you’re nervous?’

‘Not really.’

‘How’s the pain going? You’re doing very well, I’m surprised you’re not gritting your teeth more often.’

‘I’m not as weak as I might look.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘I mean, shins are usually painful because you don’t have a lot of muscle protecting your bone.’

Baekhyun blinked. ‘So you’re saying I’m strong?’

‘I’ll charge extra if you keep making me compliment you.’

This time Baekhyun laughed. ‘I’ll need to win more to be able to afford that.’

After five hours, Jongdae finished up the tattoo and gave it a final cleaning, before making some photos and plastic wrapping the wound.

‘Is it to your liking?’

‘It’s perfect. Thank you so much.’ He was eager to share it with his friends.

‘Good luck with your next competitions, Baekhyun.’ Jongdae threw away the black surgeon gloves and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll see you at the bar? Or do we pretend this never happened?’

Baekhyun didn’t respond and left before he could glimpse a reaction. He still had to process this whole time.


	2. Chapter 2

Jongdae said goodbye to his last customer after finishing up their tattoo. His hours at the tattoo parlour were irregular due to the dependency on when his customers would be available for the appointment. He cleaned up his work station and closed the shop, but just as he turned to his motorbike, he got a call from Junmyeon. 

‘Jongdae, they got me,’ Junmyeon breathed heavily as he spoke, ‘they circled me and then beat me up. My bike has gone to shit too. Please come pick me up.’

‘Fuck, Myeon... Message your location, I’m coming.’

In top speed he drove to Junmyeon’s indicated location, arriving 20 minutes later. He was just outside the other town, next to a deserted road. Of course the fuckers would target him there.

Junmyeon looked up from where he sat. His face was drenched in blood. The frown he wore was a tell-tale for how he felt. His hand was grabbing the right side of his upper body.

‘Hey,’ the man said defeated. Jongdae sank next to him and lifted his face by the chin to inspect the wounds there.

‘Are you okay?’ It was a redundant question.

‘I need to go to the hospital.’

‘I’ll call an ambulance.’

‘Don’t. I can ride with you. It’s not life-threatening. I think.’ He rose to his feet with pain shooting through his face. Jongdae helped, but was afraid to hurt him more.

An agonizing 10 minutes later, they were on their way to the hospital. Luckily Junmyeon still had the strength to hold onto Jongdae. His arms were secured around the smaller man with his body pressed firm against him. He laid his head between Jongdae’s shoulder blades.

A troublesome youth, a teacher had once called him, for doodling in class. An unwarranted title, Jongdae had thought, a more suitable one would be youth that’d end up in trouble. The notorious motorcycle gang Devil’s Desert, though more just an organized crime group, targeted anyone who could jeopardize their title as the motorcycling hooligans. It started as soon Jongdae had bought his motorcycle and found a circle of friends who were interested in riding.

Once at the hospital, Junmyeon was examined and placed on a sick bed for the rest of the night.

‘I’m sorry, Junmyeon,’ Jongdae said when they were left alone in the room.

‘Don’t be. I know it was my mistake, I shouldn’t have been out late.’

Jongdae scoffed.

‘Just, be safe next time,’ Jongdae said, a sour taste in his mouth.

‘I am more upset about my bike. It looked pretty wrecked. That thing cost me a fortune.’

‘I’ll get Yifan to pick it up tomorrow, see what he can do about it.’

Junmyeon half-smiled at him. ‘Thanks.’

The next day Jongdae returned to his shop. At noon Yixing came over, as he would multiple times a week, to work on his art. Once they were both settled on the drawing table, they chitchatted as both worked on their respective work.

‘I saw you tattooed that guy from the skate hall. I forgot his name, the one with the purple hair and emo clothing.’ Hard to miss who it was about.

‘Baekhyun? Yeah, I was surprised because he seems to dislike me.’

Yixing looked up from his work. ‘You? Is it because you’re competition to him, with the amount of eyeliner you wear?’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘I wish. I don’t know, he’s always giving our friend group side-eye when he comes into the bar. I thought it would be different after we had a nice conversation while I was tattooing him, but last time he still gave me the cold shoulder.’

‘Well I’m sure he doesn’t want to get beat up by association, you were just saying how Junmyeon lies in the hospital.’

That much he knew was true. Even their friend group had diminished over the years due to their tainted reputation. At least he could vouch for Baekhyun’s enthusiasm towards the tattoo, since he saw him show it off at the bar extensively.

‘How do you know Baekhyun?’ Jongdae asked.

‘He always at the skate hall when I’m there, he’s a diligent worker.’ Yixing shot him a curious glance.

The door rang and they both looked up. Two hulking men walked in, looking precisely the part of a tattoo-enthusiast, if Jongdae did not recognize one them to be belonging to the motor gang. He jumped up.

‘How may I help you?’

The men looked around the shop, not acknowledging Jongdae. A palpable minute later, one of them turned to him.

‘Just checking it out. I also have something from your friend, I’m sure you can give it back to him, can you?’

Jongdae felt himself shake when the man handed him Junmyeon’s wallet. He opened it, but couldn’t distinguish if something was missing.

‘How did you get it?’

‘You know, I think he dropped it. You’re welcome.’ The man smirked.

They left right after. Jongdae quivered when Yixing put a hand on his shoulder.

‘Are you okay? What was that about?’

Jongdae glanced at the wallet. Nothing should be out of place. His ID, driver’s license, bankcard, even his insurance card was there.

He shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I’m going to call Junmyeon.’

Jongdae closed his shop early in favour of dining at Shinin’ with his friends. He was the first to arrive, but soon Kyungsoo and Junmyeon joined him.

‘How are you feeling now, Junmyeon?’

‘Better. Kyungsoo brought me home this morning and after resting I don’t feel as bad.’ The colour had returned in his face since Jongdae had last seen him.

‘Oh, I forgot to give this back to you last night.’ Jongdae gave him back his wallet with a white lie. ‘I wasn’t paying attention, sorry for not telling you earlier.’

Junmyeon raised his eyebrows. ‘I had wondered where it was, I was afraid they’d stolen it and used my ID for identity theft.’

Kyungsoo chuckled at the joke, but Jongdae only swallowed hard. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that could be possible. And luckily he didn’t have to, their conversation got interrupted by the loudness that was Park Chanyeol, tailed by Yifan.

‘That was so great!’ Chanyeol screamed.

‘What was?’ Jongdae asked.

He turned to the table. ‘Yifan let me ride his motorbike. I totally get you guys now, it’s so much more exhilarating than a car!’ If he noticed Junmyeon’s bruises, he did not mention them.

Somewhere along the line Yifan and Chanyeol had become friends and getting to know Chanyeol it was easy to see why. With the excitement of a young child did he talk about their day, creating a happy mood for everyone as the conversation went on and drinks and dinner was served.

Later in the evening, Baekhyun stepped into the bar. Chanyeol waved him over. The face he pulled was funny, but he did walk up to the table.

‘Did I miss something?’ He asked, looking only at Chanyeol. He looked tired, with bags under his eyes and his cheeks flushed. The tips of his hair were still pointy from the sweat it had accumulated.

‘Yifan let me ride his motorcycle and now I am in love,’ said man replied.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. ‘You’re such a slut.’

Gasps went around the table, followed by laughter when they realized they were teasing each other.

‘What can I say, it goes faster than a skateboard. The adrenaline rush you get from it? Amazing.’ He elbowed Yifan, who nodded with a dumbstruck face.

‘Well, that is nice.’ He was about to turn, but Chanyeol grabbed his arm and subsequently bumped Yifan away as he sat at the end of the booth.

‘Why don’t you join us as well, Baekhyun?’ Jongdae asked. He tried to mask his nerves through his casual question, but he couldn’t help but feel anxious under the scrutinizing glance of the man.

‘Okay. But I really need to order food, I’m about to roll over.’

Jongdae blinked. It worked? 

Baekhyun returned after his order. Yifan and Chanyeol scooted out of the booth for him to sit at the table’s centre, right next to Kyungsoo.

‘What does your tattoo say?’ Baekhyun asked and pointed to Kyungsoo’s neck tattoo that started from behind his ear and ended at his collarbone.

‘Frustra laborat qui omnibus placere studet,’ Kyungsoo said.

Baekhyun stared at the man.

‘That’s Kyungsoo,’ Jongdae said, ‘and that’s also a tattoo done by me. Do you like it?’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘It suits you,’ he said to Kyungsoo. His eyes fell on Junmyeon, then he hastily dug into the food that just arrived for him.

‘Did you practice all day?’ Jongdae asked after he slowed down. For someone his size, he sure could eat.

‘Yeah, I’m trying to master a new routine for my next competition.’

He was clearly not as comfortable to talk as he was in Jongdae’s studio. After he finished up, he was quick to take his leave too, Chanyeol linking his arm with him as they left.

‘Wow Jongdae, can you be any more subtle?’ Kyungsoo teased.

‘Is it that obvious?’

‘That you like Baekhyun? It’s pretty obvious, yeah,’ Yifan said.

‘Shush, that’s just because I told you he looks interesting.’ Now more than ever. Since he put his tattoo and got to know him slightly better, he wondered about him. Whether he’d show his tattoo to everyone, if he looked at it with contentment whenever he took care of it, and when he’d get the next opportunity to get to know him better.

***

The next morning Baekhyun dragged himself to the skating hall again. Chanyeol was in the corner at the small bars, trying to land a double flip. He stuck the landing the third time. Baekhyun snorted when Chanyeol raised his hands and cheered for himself. The latter whipped his head around.

‘You gotta admit, that was smooth, right?’

‘Actually, yeah that was a good one,’ Baekhyun answered genuinely. ‘Have you been here for long?’

Chanyeol wiped the sweat off his forehead and showed his moist hand to Baekhyun. ‘Does that answer your question?’

Baekhyun pulled a face. ‘Your words alone would have sufficed too.’

Chanyeol laughed and patted Baekhyun’s shoulder when he passed him. They both went their own ways, practicing till their shirts were soaked and their stomachs requested something nutritious.

In the hall’s cafeteria they dined on the cheap rice and soup. Despite their work out, Chanyeol was still hyped, this time reminiscing last night.

‘You should definitely give the ride a try. It was so cool!’

‘Chanyeol. First off, motorcycles are the most dangerous vehicle on the road, do you know how many accidents happen with those things? Secondly, yes it must be cool, but you know the stigma around here. You don’t want to associate with that.’

Chanyeol sighed, his eyes struck down. ‘I know, but they are genuinely really cool and friendly people. We only have this prejudice about them, but we don’t even know if they are true. You even went to get a tattoo from one of them, so who are you to pass judgement on?’

‘Just because they are friendly people doesn’t mean they are good people. I just think it’s shady. Even if they weren’t part of that gang, they would still risk driving around on motorcycles, knowing that it is frowned upon by the locals?’

‘I guess,’ Chanyeol remained quiet while he swirled his spoon in the soup. ‘It’s just not my concern. As long as they’re nice, what would be so bad about hanging out with them every once in a while?’

Baekhyun savoured the words as he sipped his soup. They wouldn’t be able to be on one line about this. It still didn’t explain the occasional bruises seen on their faces. He also did not know how to think about Jongdae. His company was legitimate with all the right papers and certifications at least. That was separate from each other, he nodded to himself. 

While he travelled with Zitao by train to their next competition, Baekhyun lost sight of him quickly after. Zitao spent his time at the training ring with his Chinese friends, so Baekhyun didn’t want to intervene.

‘Hey,’ came from behind with a hand placed on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

‘Oh, hi!’ His voice creaked when he turned around and saw Minseok.

Minseok smiled, his gums showing. ‘Hi! Are you participating?’

Baekhyun returned the smile, albeit awkward. ‘Of course.’

‘Good luck. Are you gonna practice?’

‘Maybe,’ Baekhyun shrugged, ‘I’m one of the last to participate, so I wanted to calm my muscles for the time being.’

‘Cool, join me backstage?’

Baekhyun shot a glance at the man. He had previously avoided it to assure he would be able to speak to his idol.

Minseok’s eyes widened, before he burst into laughter. ‘I mean, to relax? Not like that!’

‘Oh, okay,’ Baekhyun replied dry-mouthed. He did not expect them to be on friend level with him, being invited to hang out with him? Whatever they were, it was awesome. Minseok led him back behind security into the sports halls, a few stairs up until they were on the top floor. They went into a designated area, the VIP room.

‘Wow, this is so cool!’ Baekhyun almost screamed when he ran to the window and saw an overview of the entire terrain from this spot. The actual competition ring was well seen from here, but the people at the training ring looked like tiny humans flying about. The rest of the room was modestly decorated, a few couches to lounge on, a small counter with minifridge and coffee machine with a bunch of fruit in a bowl next to it.

‘So this is what it’s like to be a star, eh?’ Baekhyun teased.

‘Pfft,’ Minseok shook his head and walked to the mini fridge, ‘actually, I think the free drinks is what the real celebrity-feeling is.’ He grabbed two cans from it and gave one to Baekhyun.

‘I heard you got your first win.’ Minseok sat down on the couch, glancing at Baekhyun who still stood by the window. Catching his cue, Baekhyun walked over to take a seat on the couch adjacent from him.

‘Oh yeah, you’re right. I still cannot believe it,’ Baekhyun replied in his ‘coolest’ voice. He showed him his still-fresh tattoo. ‘I got one now too.’ Excitement seeped in his voice.

Minseok inched closer and looked at tattoo.

‘You went to Jongdae?’

Baekhyun cocked his head. ‘You recommended him to me after all.’

‘Wow, I have that influence on you? Great!’ He cackled. ‘He’s my best friend. He always shows me photos of the work he does and I remember him sending this one. Should have known it would be you.’ He added the last sentence with a smile. Guess that made sense, if Minseok’s body was plastered with Jongdae’s art, they’d surely have formed a bond one way or another. ‘Are you happy with the result?’ Minseok traced the outlines with his thumb.

‘Definitely. He really is talented. How did you get to know him?’

‘Ah, that was a long time ago. We met at a sports hall. He did a lot of work for our community, you know? Oh no wait, you’re not. Sorry I keep assuming, just with the whole outfit and the hair and all…’ Minseok squinted his eyes as he looked at Baekhyun, retracting his hands and taking a seat again. ‘Anyway, Jongdae was happy with the result too. Are you going to get more done by him?’

Baekhyun thought about that. While he was still unsure whether if it would be a good idea to hang out with the problematic man, his work was superb. Now that he learned that Minseok is close friends, he could also become closer with him through Jongdae. Not that he wanted to use either, but having a rich, influential and super talented friend can always work in his favour. Certainly, in their BMX world where everything was about sponsors for any kind of stable income.

‘I’ll have to think of new designs though.’ Baekhyun involuntarily smiled.

‘You can also ask Jongdae, that kid has infinite ideas. Check this one out.’ Minseok lifted his shirt and showed an intricate pattern on the side of his body. The symbols were messy, but all together it looked slick and well-matched.

‘This what he came up with when I told him I wanted something different. Before that I only had designs with like, faces or objects and what not, but now I’m really enjoying the more abstract pieces.’

Baekhyun nodded. It was gorgeous. He never seen something like this inked on someone, it seemed more like those next level drawing book line outs his mom spent her days on.

‘Fascinating, no? I’ve known Jongdae since freshmen year of high school. He has always been crazy about arts. He drew his days away, yet he still managed to get excellent grades for the more theoretical classes.’

‘Ugh I hear you. My best friend is one of those super talented people that can master a skill in a month. Life is not fair.’

Minseok laughed, low and content. ‘Yup.’

They chatted for a little while longer before Minseok had to excuse himself.

‘Sorry, I have to meet the other judges and show my face around. You can stay here if you want?’

Baekhyun stood up simultaneously as the older man. ‘Nah, I should be practicing now anyway, we’ve sat here for an hour already.’

Once out of the building, they split up. Baekhyun headed straight to the training ring, finding Zitao and a few other familiar faces practicing. They nodded to each other when their eyes met, but other than that, the ring was devoid of social interaction.

It was Sunday and Shinin’ was relatively crowded. Some locals would dine there occasionally during the weekend, during the weekdays is was mostly them and the biker guys there.

Baekhyun only got a second’s notice of Chanyeol turning around to Baekhyun with big eyes before looking to the front again and storming to the bikers.

‘Oh my God, how cute!’ Chanyeol said and extended his hand to the table. Curious what it was about, Baekhyun looked over Chanyeol’s lowered shoulder and there he saw what had intrigued Chanyeol so. A white dot of fur with round bead eyes and a scaly tail.

‘Who’s the rat from?’ He asked.

‘Can we keep him?’ Chanyeol asked before anyone could react.

‘It’s mine. Come take a seat, she is a little shy when people loom over her,’ Yifan said. Chanyeol didn’t even wait for affirmation, he squeezed himself into the booth next to Junmyeon right away. The table was already full, so Baekhyun sat down on Chanyeol’s lap. He caught Jongdae’s eyebrow quirking up when he did so.

‘She’s so cute.’ Chanyeol was left fascinated by the small creature, holding his hand out and staring at her for any kind of validation. It took a while, but in the end she crawled away from underneath the fabric of Yifan’s baggy sweater paw, glancing at the newcomers and sniffing Chanyeol’s hand. She ran back into Yifan’s sleeve.

‘I didn’t know you had rats,’ Chanyeol said to him.

‘I used to have three. Two have them have died and she is the last survivor. I didn’t want her to get lonely, so I bring her along with me nowadays.’

‘Cute!’ Chanyeol exclaimed.

Baekhyun was forced to sit with the rest of the group as Chanyeol spent all his time doting on the small creature. Baekhyun couldn’t really be bothered. His lips already curled up on their own account, from seeing the two tall and otherwise possibly intimidating (jokes, only Yifan has that potential. Baekhyun had only seen Chanyeol intimidating once, but the aftermath was him crying from the sudden outburst of emotion so that image got shattered real quick) guys gush over such a small animal.

‘Do you like animals too?’ Jongdae asked out of the blue. Baekhyun hadn’t noticed him trying to get his attention. When Baekhyun looked back at the man, the man raised an eyebrow.

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘Of course, who doesn’t? I must admit, Chanyeol’s love for animals is hard to beat, but I think I have a way with animals too.’

Jongdae laughed and glanced at the man in question. ‘It does seem that way, yeah.’

They chatted for quite a bit. Junmyeon shared his love for his dog, along with a few pictures on his phone. Before they knew it, an hour had already passed filled with conversations about animals, anecdotes and other small talk. Chanyeol had earned the love of the rat, who had nestled himself under Chanyeol’s shirt and fell asleep there. With that distraction out of the way, Yifan and Chanyeol joined the conversation with the rest.

By the end of the night, Baekhyun could not lie to Chanyeol and say he didn’t have a good time.

Baekhyun got the shock of his life when he spotted an out-of-place familiar face in the skating ring. Chanyeol was speaking expressively with the man, who was supporting a much more skater-themed outfit than his usual leather clothes. Before Baekhyun reached them, the man took a dive into the pool.

‘Why is Jongdae here?’ Baekhyun asked when he reached Chanyeol, who stood next to the pool watching over the man.

‘Apparently he skated when he was younger.’ They both followed the man’s movement. Even if Jongdae had not skated in a while, he still had the skills. He didn’t hesitate to grab a few bars, finishing them with an Ollie or a backflip. He shied away from the higher ramps, but the smaller ones were a piece of cake. He turned a few heads from the other skaters, surprised to see someone unknown of that calibre performing.

‘Damn, he is good,’ Baekhyun muttered. Chanyeol didn’t reply verbally, only nodded his head while he continued to stare.

Jongdae returned to them a few minutes later. He landed a little awkwardly, his skateboard rolling away when his feet hit the ground. He smirked at Baekhyun, whom suddenly realized his mouth was ajar.

‘Was it to your standards, gentlemen?’ He asked after he fetched his skateboard.

‘Definitely! Why are you hiding that talent? You would make a great skater at our ring,’ Chanyeol said.

Jongdae shrugged. ‘You get older, start to prioritize other things, you know how it goes.’

‘Damn shame though.’ It was hard to tell who looked more disappointed, Chanyeol or Jongdae. The latter stared in the distance for a moment, swallowing.

‘It is how it is,’ he replied in a soft voice.

He skated for another 30 minutes, then took his leave. Baekhyun was baffled there were those he waved goodbye, and a little more confused when he waved to Baekhyun directly.

‘Is he growing on you yet?’ Chanyeol asked, snapping Baekhyun out of his daze.

‘What? No. I just don’t understand why he is nice to me.’

Chanyeol shrugged. ‘I don’t understand either, you’re always acting like you have a stick up your butt when you see him.’

Baekhyun pushed him, not realizing he was only with one foot on the ground and thusly causing him to fall.

‘You deserved that.’ He stuck out his tongue and went back to training.

It was hard to believe, but Baekhyun won another regional tournament after more weeks of training. He ended up rushing to the tattoo parlour first, another victory to be put on his skin. He entered Jongdae’s studio on Tuesday afternoon, it is when he would have the biggest chance of meeting the man for a drawing session on the off hours.

When Baekhyun entered the store, he was a little surprised to find both Jongdae and Yixing at the sketching table. The sketching table was in between the ‘waiting couch’ and the sterile work benches. That way, Jongdae would always be able to greet new visitors as soon as they entered the door, as he had told him when he came here before.

‘Hey Baekkie, how’s my little emo dude doing?’ Jongdae asked cheerfully. He stood up from his seat and came over to him. By the way he was walking, arms open, it almost seemed like he was going to hug him. When he reached him, he twirled around him and stroked Baekhyun’s arm. ‘Care for some tea?’

‘If you ditch the sugar like last time,’ Baekhyun replied sourly. Jongdae had gone around the corner for the coffee machine. When Baekhyun glanced at Yixing, the man’s eyes were upon him too. He squinted at him.

‘Hi, you’re Lay, right? I’m a big fan of your work,’ Baekhyun said. He moved over to him and gave a curt bow. The man bowed as well, albeit it was a bit clunky with the table in the way.

‘Thanks. Baekhyun, right?’

‘You know me?’

‘You go to the skate hall, right?’

Baekhyun blushed, though he wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not. He toned down on the bright colours a bit since he had gotten older. ‘Yeah, I think I first saw you when you did the mural there a few years ago.’

Lay nodded thoughtfully. ‘Right, you were already wearing make-up back then, right?’

Baekhyun blushed. He was a bit younger and he was definitely still getting the hang of it. He used to overdo the eye make-up, which gave him a lot of glances. ‘Yeah…’

‘I remember you, yeah,’ Lay laughed, ‘one of my friends who joined me was totally checking you out.’

‘Really?’ Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. He was used to the glances, but never in a romantic way.

‘And then you kissed another dude and she knew she had fallen for another gay.’ Lay snorted, enjoying his own memory of the event.

Baekhyun awkwardly joined his laughter, not sure what to say about it anymore. Luckily Jongdae returned soon enough, telling Baekhyun to take a seat and handing him his tea.

‘What were you guys drawing?’

‘We’re competing against each other. What do you think of my boat?’ Jongdae lifted his artbook and showed off his drawing. It was a ship, drawn in crude lines and splotches of neon colours.

Baekhyun nodded impressed.

‘I think it is really good,’ Lay added to the conversation. He quickly shut his notebook. ‘Let’s call it a day, you win.’

‘Aww Yixing, show Baekhyun yours too. I like yours a lot!’ Jongdae encouraged him. Despite his art being well-known around these parts of town, he was still insecure about his work. Or so, that was what Jongdae told Baekhyun after the man left for a moment. Despite the insecurity, the art work was beautiful and Baekhyun made sure to compliment it extra nicely.

‘So what got you here, Baek? Ready for a new tattoo?’ Jongdae asked.

‘Yes. I won another tournament, so I want to celebrate that.’

‘Congratulations! You’ve come to the right place. I have time now, we can sketch out a design and maybe next week I’ll have time to ink it on ya.’

‘Tournament?’ Lay lifted his head from his work.

‘Our Baekkie is also a BMXer,’ Jongdae practically beamed as he said it.

Lay scoffed in return. ‘You truly are the BMX tattoo-artist to go to, aren’t you? No wonder you’ve been drawing more bikes lately.’

Jongdae blushed. Lay excused himself and left the shop while Jongdae grabbed a few artbooks for Baekhyun to look through.

‘What do you have in mind this time, Baekhyun?’ Jongdae asked.

‘Actually, I really like your abstract work. I’m open for anything.' Baekhyun was thumbing through Jongdae's artbook.

'Really? Thank you.' Jongdae was awfully cute today. He was cheerful, his cheeks tinted and his smile just wouldn’t vanish. 'I have something designed already, let me find it.' Jongdae recovered a sketchbook from one of the shelves. It was a huge book, the edges of the cover bent from use. He flipped the pages before he found what he was looking for. It was a sketch of multiple symbols and lose lines, blotted with brightly coloured ink.

'That is beautiful. I would love this design.'

‘If you want I can put it on you right away, but I understand if you want a night to sleep on it.'

Baekhyun contemplated the idea. It would be wise to wait and see what else he could get. Then again, the design immediately captivated him, so that was a good sign.

'Bring out the needles.'

Jongdae smirked. 'Give me thirty minutes to set up the colours and trace the design on you.'

Thirty minutes later, Baekhyun sat backwards on a low chair without a shirt on, his shoulder covered in sketch lines. It was difficult looking over his own shoulder, which Jongdae solved by making pictures instead. Once agreed on the design, Jongdae started. Jongdae focused on inking while Baekhyun was trying hard to not whine about the pain. The pain was a little less than on his lower leg, but some parts were so sensitive. Jongdae asked about the competition Baekhyun won, but after that conversation was over, they settled for silence. The old rock tunes in the store were still filling up the room, to which Jongdae sometimes quietly sang along too. Jongdae occasionally stopped his work and gave Baekhyun a breather while he stretched his hand.

Halfway through, Lay came back with take-away food in tow.

‘Dinner’s here!’ Jongdae exclaimed and patted Baekhyun on his arm. After carefully bandaging the progress, Jongdae motioned Baekhyun to join them at the drawing table. For a second, Baekhyun was awkward and confused. He never assumed he would be provided with food. He didn’t even call his mom to say he’s not eating at home. A quick text eased that worry at least. He ran over, earning the attention of the two men picking at the sealed boxes.

‘I’m not protesting, but you can wear your shirt, Baekhyun. I taped off the tattoo, you’re good.’

Baekhyun quickly turned around and shielded his body. He heard both Lay and Jongdae laugh while he put on his shirt, making him chuckle too.

‘Please grab whatever you like.’ Lay spread his arms for emphasis. He had brought take-out Chinese, a variety of noodle and rice dishes.

Lay and Jongdae were talking about all kinds of stuff, mostly about ridiculous requests they’ve had from customers or clients. Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice how friendly the two were. They were constantly handing out the containers and sharing food, asking Baekhyun if he was alright and if he liked it, pouring each other water. When they realized Baekhyun had been quiet for a while, Lay asked him about his BMX career.

‘What about you, what are you working on right now, ... Lay?’

Lay chuckled. ‘Please call me Yixing, let’s not be too formal here, eh?’

‘Yixing,’ Baekhyun replied.

Yixing went on to talk about his upcoming art gallery in the museum in the city near them.

‘If you’re ever there, come visit.’

After dinner, they continued the session. Yixing left an hour before they finished. At last the nagging pain of needles jabbed into Baekhyun’s skin seized and Jongdae sprayed the wound for sanitation. The prickling of the alcohol Jongdae used to clean the wound was a refreshing tingle, but not entirely pleasant.

‘You did very well, Baekhyun.’ Jongdae’s hand lingered as he helped Baekhyun get out of the chair and lead him to the big mirror. With a small one in his hand, he turned it so Baekhyun could see the piece.

‘What do you think?’

‘I love it!’ The tattoo was abstract, blending black with bright colours that fade into Baekhyun’s skin. It was odd, but exactly what Baekhyun was looking for. Jongdae snapped some photos of it and showed them to Baekhyun. Only now did Baekhyun see the small details, like the flowy circles had ridges like a bike’s wheel on it. It made his heart beat a little faster. It didn’t slow down when he looked up at Jongdae, staring at him with half-crescents from the smile he pulled, his apple cheeks prominent against the cold lighting of the shop. ‘Thank you, I really like it.’

After bandaging and getting another rundown on wound care, ‘because you can never be too sure’, Baekhyun stayed around while Jongdae cleaned his workspace.

‘Do you always wear this much jewellery?’ Baekhyun noted, having seen his fingers never without the silver bling or the leather bracelets on his left arm.

‘Pretty much. I wish I could wear more silver bracelets, but I’ve had clients whine that it was cold against their skin when I was tattooing them.’ Jongdae replied.

‘I’m jealous. I want to wear more too, but it’s too dangerous when I’m practicing my sport.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘Maybe at the afterparties on the tournament days, it’s a good time to show off then, right?’

‘I’ll keep that in mind, once I have money to buy silver.’

‘I’m glad you’re spending your money responsibly on tattoos. Speaking of which…’ He pointed to the cash register.

‘Right.’ Baekhyun went to pay, but saw the price was lower than it was for his first tattoo – despite it being bigger.

‘What’s this about?’

‘Hmm?’

‘Did you make a mistake? This tattoo cannot possibly this cheap, I spent 7 hours in that chair.’

‘It’s a gift, for winning your tournament.’ Baekhyun wanted to protest, but Jongdae faked ignorance and threatened to remove the register entirely if he didn’t hurry up.

Baekhyun waited around for Jongdae to lock up the shop, his demeanour more subdued than before.

‘It’s already late, can I give you a ride home?’

‘No worries, I can cycle home.’ Baekhyun shrugged it off.

‘I’d feel more comfortable if I knew you got home safe. These streets are a little dangerous at night.’

Before Baekhyun could answer, Jongdae gave him a helmet. He tried to play it off cool, but the man was a little out of it. Suspicious for sure, who knew what he had experienced during such late evenings. Baekhyun accepted the helmet and hesitantly got on the bike. Up close with Jongdae in front was definitely a new experience. He kept his distance as much as possible and held the handlebar behind him. However, once the engine soared and it moved, Baekhyun clamped against Jongdae’s back with his arms around his waist. It was a good thing his seat was a little higher than Jongdae’s, so he could glance just above his shoulder to look ahead.

Jongdae rode pretty calmly through the neighbourhoods of the small town, only speeding once the empty road linking the two towns together. The large open space lent itself to it easily, and Baekhyun got lost in thought glancing in the empty distance of dried grass fields.

‘You know, Chanyeol was right about motorcycles. They are pretty damn exhilarating,’ Baekhyun said after Jongdae had pulled up in front of his parental home.

‘If you want another ride, you have my number.’ Sitting on his bike, slightly leaned back with his helm on his lap, it certainly was a tempting suggestion.

‘Thanks for bringing me home. And the tattoo of course!’ Baekhyun didn’t know how to greet him goodbye, so he opted for a fist bump.

Jongdae bumped his fist back while chuckling. ‘No problem, sleep tight, Baekhyun.’


	3. Chapter 3

_That one fateful day Jongdae went to the garage, his life found new meaning. He had heard of the place, run by the Wu’s. When he first entered, he hadn’t expected a middle-aged woman popping up from underneath the car that had its engine exposed. She greeted him and asked if he had any business being here. He quickly replied ‘only browsing’ and scooted to the motor cycle section. He knew they had a decent collection, as expected from the amount of ‘motor cycle enthusiasts’ in the area, for better or worse. His browsing was quickly interrupted by a voice._

_‘Are you looking for a bike?’ A tall young man in a once white wifebeater asked, his overall strapped around his waist, looking the part of a mechanic. Jongdae couldn’t deny the good looks the man was serving, his chest well-defined underneath the tight tank top. If the man was offended by Jongdae’s obvious stared appraisal, he did not show it._

_‘Yeah,’ he replied with a dry mouth._

_‘Awesome, what are you looking for?’ The mechanic kept his gaze on Jongdae’s crutches for a second too long, but he held his tongue._

_Jongdae knew just the thing he wanted. ‘The most ridiculous ride you have, something to impress the boys.’_

_The man lifted his eyebrow, but signalled him to follow him. ‘Now, if you want to impress your dudebros I would suggest this one.’ He pointed to a chopper with ape-hangers. ‘Definitely ridiculous and fits your leather jacket well._

_‘However, I think a slick design like Kawasaki’s will probably get you more dates.’ A neon green sports motor cycle with sharp edges and a windshield. Definitely a showpiece. The mechanic seemed to agree, his eyes sparkling like he was looking at his own child._

_‘So if I get this one, can I get your number?’_

_The man laughed. ‘Not much to gain from that, but you can always keep me up to date on the motorcycle.’_

_‘Then how do you know this will get me dates? I can’t expect a straightie to know what a man wants.’ Jongdae pouted._

_‘A friend of mine. Though the amount of dates acquired depends on the biker too, that friend of mine is too oblivious to the men and ends up hanging out with girls instead. Hopeless case.’ He shook his head. ‘Anyway, what are your thoughts? All these are second hand by the way, we can get you a new or custom one too, if you’re willing to pay the price of course.’_

_Jongdae still had a fragile knee from his skateboard accident, so trying them was out of the picture for now. He contemplated his options when he spotted hís bike. He crutched to it, the mechanic following suit._

_‘Ah, a classic Harley. I should have known you were an old soul,’ the mechanic said with a smile._

_And like that Jongdae bought himself his first motorcycle. He asked the mechanic to take him for a ride, just so he could get a feel of the bike without actually having to ride it himself. They finished the paperwork and after some small talk, Jongdae excused himself to go home again._

_‘I can fix it up in a week and bring it to your home too. How long will you…’ He pointed to Jongdae’s leg. ‘Need before you can ride?’_

_‘About two weeks, the doc said. Or so I hope, I cannot wait to ride it!’ Jongdae shot another glance at the Harley, knowing it’ll be his in a week._

_The week passed slowly. Jongdae’s work as assistant in the tattoo parlour in the other town had a slow week too, so there wasn’t much to occupy his mind with. His days were spent bussing to his work (as supposed to just cycling), drawing in his sketchbook at work and reading books in the evening. It was a blessing to see the Garage’s stickered truck in front of his shabby apartment building on Friday._

_The same mechanic stood at his front door, who now revealed himself under the name Yifan and how he had forgotten to introduce himself at the garage last week. They unloaded the bike and after Jongdae was done drooling over it, he invited the mechanic in for a cup of coffee. The man shrugged and accepted the invitation. The apartment he lived in was small and nothing special. He had moved out his parental home a year ago, earning barely enough to live out here but happy he could be independent. He still wanted to paint the walls, but he hadn’t decided on his design yet._

_Conversation flew easily. Jongdae explained how he got his injury, and how he used to be an avid skater. Yifan in turn told him about his life abroad as a child, how he grew up without a father, how his mother was his inspiration to work hard._

_‘So that woman working in the shop is your mother?’_

_‘Yeah. We’ve always lived in poverty. When I was big enough to realize that, I helped one of my neighbours fix cars for some extra cash. My mom was always involved in my life, so when she showed an interest in my work, I shared her my knowledge. Before we knew it, she had bought an old garage across town and we had our own business.’_

_‘Wow. She is badass.’_

_Yifan smiled shyly. ‘She really is.’_

_By the end of the afternoon, Yifan felt like a comfortable friend already. Having a mechanic as friend was always a plus, but one so close to his age and easy to talk to was rare to find._

_The doctor’s visit proved relatively positive. Though the doctor reaffirmed extreme sports and hard physical exercise were prohibited if Jongdae still wanted to be able to walk with that leg, he would be able to recover well enough to be able to walk miles before it start hurting._

_Walking out of the hospital, he was awaited by his best friend, Minseok. They had known each other since young, bonding as kids over their own eagerness to hurt themselves through silly and dangerous tricks. While Jongdae pushed the limits with the skateboard, Minseok remained more level headed and picked up a bike. The control of a bike is easier than a skateboard, and after both had been in a collision that had broken Minseok’s arm, he became more wary of the dangers of life. Despite that, he grew up to be a lot better in the sport he was practicing. It wasn’t uncommon for him to win the regional tournaments and earn a trophy in the nationals either. He had all the potential to become the best. Minseok was always the one with a goal and sticking to it until he reached it._

_‘Sup,’ Minseok smile was lopsided and he embraced Jongdae. Even his recently blown up reputation had not made him forget his best friend, luckily._

_‘No training today?’_

_‘Not until I know my friend is going to be alright. What did the doc say?’ Minseok glanced at Jongdae’s leg, as if it would give the answers for him. He had seen him limp towards him, so he knew that much._

_Jongdae shrugged. ‘No more skateboarding for me.’_

_‘Then who is going to keep me company while I train?’ Minseok pouted. He swung an arm on the younger’s shoulder. ‘Sucks, man.’ They both already expected it from previous visits and the severity of the accident, but it hurt to have the final answer to be negative._

_‘It is what it is. I’ll still come by the ring sometimes, maybe bring a book to entertain myself instead.’ Jongdae joked. Minseok didn’t look too thrilled about it, but he didn’t say anything. ‘Anyway, let’s go take a ride on my motorbike!’_

_With Minseok’s bike in hand they walked to Jongdae’s home, a slow pace with the slight limp Jongdae had. When Jongdae opened the garage door to reveal his motor, both men were like kids in a candy store. Yifan had polished it before bringing him over, its shine making it look as good as new. After gloating over it for a good ten minutes, they took the Harley out for a spin. Jongdae had purchased the necessary equipment the day after he bought the motorbike. The leather of the jackets still smelled freshly skinned, the helmets shining nearly as well as the motor was._

_Only a few kilometres into riding, Jongdae’s knee started nagging. It clearly had its limitations still. They returned home and shared some drinks before Minseok excused himself to train a bit more._

***

A miscalculated jump later and Baekhyun laid on the floor, screaming in uncontrollable pain. It was only four days after his fresh ink, and he had the worst luck scraping his shoulder on the ring as gravity dragged him down. A fresh tattoo was basically an open wound, and oh did he feel it. One of the other BMXers was with him in an instant and dragged him up. It was dangerous to stay in the pit with so many (inexperienced) riders doing their own thing. Biting his tongue, Baekhyun scrambled up and climbed the ring with hot tears in his eyes. At the nursery, a nickname for the first aid booth, Jongin and Zitao joined him after his flesh wound was cleaned and bandaged.

‘Shit, Baek, you’re not looking good.’ Zitao commented.

‘I think he’s in a bit of a shock, he’s extremely pale and breathing irregularly. Can any of you get him to a hospital?’ The first aider asked.

Zitao and Jongin looked at each other. The hospital was a ten-minute drive, but neither had their driver’s license yet. Baekhyun raised his hand.

‘I’m okay. I just didn’t expect it to hurt so much.’ He smiled weakly. The others glanced at him disapprovingly.

The ‘nurse’ dabbled the last of the sweat on Baekhyun’s forehead away and handed him a sugary drink. ‘I’m giving you five minutes to recover, else I’m calling an ambulance.’ He raised his finger threateningly.

The pain was subduing, but the throbbing of the wound felt louder than his own heartbeat. Baekhyun cursed himself for being so stupid. He could have made the jump if he had stayed focused, but he had overexerted himself again. The look on Jongin’s said much the same.

‘Just spit it out, Jongin.’ Baekhyun sighed in defeat. Zitao curiously looked between the two.

‘I’m just contemplating your life choices…’

‘Thanks for your concern.’

‘I just don’t see the appeal in tattoos. They don’t even look good and now you might just have a huge scar instead of a tattoo.’ Jongin twiddled his thumbs and repeatedly brushed his sleek hair back.

‘Don’t say that,’ Zitao pitched in, his eyes wary.

Baekhyun’s strength returned to him as time progressed and got up. ‘Thank you for your concern, Jongin. I must have scared you, didn’t I?’ Even if Jongin didn’t understand tattoos, he meant well. Baekhyun leaned in and gave him a hug.

‘To be fair, your scream was ear deafening,’ Zitao said with a scoff. Baekhyun pouted and Jongin laughed at it, lightening the mood. Enough for Baekhyun’s colour to return to his face too, as Zitao reminded him.

After receiving the green light in the nursery to leave, Baekhyun picked up his stuff and took off to the tattoo parlour. If Jongin was right, he wouldn’t forgive himself. The tattoo was expensive enough, let alone the pain it took to place it as well as the work that went into the design. 

  
Jongdae was drawing on a client’s skin when Baekhyun entered. Baekhyun tried to play it cool, but he was clearly fussing. His skin felt itchy and sore now, the pain not fully subdued but under control. Jongdae glanced in his general direction.

‘Oh, hey you. Grab a drink.’ His eyes were back on the client before him again.

Baekhyun tentatively grabbed some water. He sat down on the red ‘waiting’ couch. After a few minutes he heard Jongdae sigh and told his customer to drink something before they’d continue.

‘What is the matter?’ He asked, leaning down and placing his hand on Baekhyun’s leg that had been tapping unconsciously. Oops.

Baekhyun rambled about his crash and then showed the wound, now covered in bandages. Jongdae removed it, and the act alone brought tears to Baekhyun’s eyes.

‘Sorry, it is very sensitive, isn’t it?’ Jongdae proceeded extra careful, taking a gander at the wound. The wound was still oozing and gross, but the scabs that had partially grew over the skin had been scraped clean again. He grabbed some antibacterial soap and cleaned it, like he had when the tattoo was first set.

‘Is the design still good?’ Baekhyun asked worriedly.

‘Is that what you’re worried about?’ Jongdae asked with a snort. ‘As long as it is not a deep tissue cut, meaning it damaged the deepest layer of skin which is the part penetrated by the needle, the ink should hold up fine.’

Baekhyun sighed in relief. He caught Jongdae’s soft smile, a faint blush on his cheeks.

‘The only thing that sucks is that you undid all the healing your body worked on, so the process will take longer. You’re all good otherwise.’ He went to his cabinet and grabbed new bandages. With precision he wrapped his shoulder up again, his fingers around Baekhyun’s elbow to hold his arm still.

‘Thanks…’ Baekhyun replied, suddenly embarrassed. He did kind of barge into here and demanded attention. The other client still sat in his chair, an unfinished drawing on his leg.

‘No problem. Come see me in a month’s time, we can do a touch up if necessary. Now shoo!’ He playfully added. He finished the bandages and for good measure, Jongdae patted his (other) shoulder in comfort.

Baekhyun waved goodbye and promptly walked into someone on his way out. He muttered sorry to the heavily tattooed guy, and rushed to his bike to leave.

A few weeks later it was Chanyeol who broke Baekhyun’s mundane life training and sleeping, showing up at his doorstep.

‘I found this great skate park in the town nearby and Yifan is also there. Want to check it out with me?’ he had asked with the enthusiasm of a 6-year-old.

While hesitant, Baekhyun agreed. During the short car trip, Chanyeol asked about his frequent visits to Jongdae’s studio.

‘So how are you two now? You’re not worried about him being a dangerous man anymore?’ Chanyeol said.

‘I… I don’t know, he’s friendly. When I visit for a check-up, he kept asking how it was and if it ached during training. He makes a lot of teasing jokes, but otherwise I cannot see how he could be dangerous.’ Baekhyun bit his lip. He had been thinking about the evening long after he got home, how Jongdae had asked about his training and how he chipped in on performing new tricks and skateboarding. He notably left out how touchy Jongdae had been going over his wound.

‘That’s good. I think we might have misjudged them. I’ve been hanging out with Yifan more often. Last time Junmyeon joined us and I got to ride his motorcycle again!’

They were awaited by the pair at the parking lot.

‘Hey, welcome to our little town.’ Yifan hugged Chanyeol. He was hesitant towards Baekhyun, opting to just smile at him awkwardly. They had never interacted outside the bar, and even that was never one on one. It was surprising that Kyungsoo hugged them both.

‘So this is where you live, eh? Can’t believe it is an even smaller town than ours.’

‘I thank my motorbike every day. This place is shit.’

Baekhyun agreed with the sentiment. The roads that took them here were neglected. The buildings surrounding them were only old farms. The skate park was in the ‘center’, which meant a small grocery shop, a postal office and two clothing shops. A few benches were scattered around the greenery, some old folk playing chess. Boring as hell.

The skate ring was crappy too.

‘I thought you told me there was this amazing skatepark, Chanyeol. If this is what you define as amazing, I’m firmly disappointed.’

Chanyeol raised his hands and shrugged. ‘Okay, I just wanted to have a fun day somewhere else. I knew you wouldn’t come otherwise.’ His eyes were big and round, pleading in silence. Baekhyun wasn’t opposed to it. The area was quiet at least, perfect for training.

Without further a-do, he tried out the ring. Chanyeol taught Yifan some tricks, which he horribly failed at, while Kyungsoo sat back and occasionally laughed at their antics.

After the umpteenth injury Yifan got, Kyungsoo couldn’t bear to idly watch anymore.

‘I’m going to get some iodine and band aids,’ he mumbled to himself. Baekhyun only caught the words because he was just going to take a break and ended up next to the man.

‘Care if I join you? I want to buy some drinks.’ The man simpered at Baekhyun’s offer and nodded.

‘So what so you do in your daily life, Kyungsoo?’

‘I’m a student, still.’ He solemnly replied. Baekhyun waited for further explanation, but nothing came. Truly a man of many mysteries, or something like that. He was about to ask something else when his eyes caught the artwork painted on the wall.

‘What is that?’ Baekhyun asked himself, marvelling at the piece of art. It was an intricate drawing of two men dissolving into each other, their hips aligned like they grew from the same one, legs crossing each other as the men were intimately close to each other. Baekhyun felt his cheeks blush as he looked at the frisky position and the exposed skin painted.

‘It’s an art collab of Jongdae and Yixing. Yixing drew a ladies’ version in the other town, at the same backstreet adjacent of the grocery store,’ Kyungsoo said.

That explained why the art style looked vaguely familiar. He hadn’t seen work like this in Jongdae’s artbooks, both in art form and in what he drew. Baekhyun had a hunch Jongdae wasn’t straight, but he never tried to ask about it either. When Baekhyun glanced over to him, he noticed the strange look he was getting. He drew his eyes away and walked towards the store. The question why Jongdae had drawn such art was left on his tongue, but he knew better than to ask Kyungsoo.

The blush was about to die out when Kyungsoo dropped another bomb on him.

‘What do you think of Jongdae?’ He asked, nonchalant while glancing at the beverage isle. He turned his head when Baekhyun didn’t answer right away.

‘He is a good artist,’ Baekhyun answered. He didn’t want to share his wariness for the biker, certainly not when the man asking was one of them as well.

‘Is that all he is?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘He seems nice, I suppose.’

The answer seemed to suffice, Kyungsoo did not ask any further. After dwelling in the store for a while, they paid for their items and headed back. The impression he left behind of him was a peculiar one.

Yifan was not much better. Despite his initial cold appearance, he was a goofball around Chanyeol. Around Kyungsoo he was careful and calculating, like the man had him under his thumb. Nonetheless, he was kind and thoughtful, which was perhaps why Chanyeol felt so inclined to keep in contact with them. Chanyeol had been bullied as a child and that had made him wary of people, but he always had a desire to find his own group of people where he could be himself at. It was no wonder he and Chanyeol became so close-knitted.

They decided on dining at a Chinese restaurant, as recommended by Yifan. Kyungsoo found his tongue again, but only for small snippets of information while Yifan ranted about his latest motorcycle tour through the country.

‘And I’m pretty sure there was an illegal drugs trade going on there. It is a shame I couldn’t bring my bike into my room, because I sure as hell didn’t feel safe leaving it out there.’

‘Did you ever find out what happened to the guy that ran away?’ Chanyeol asked.

‘No, but I bet you those mobsters found him again. I’m surprised they’re not after me, after I witnessed such an ordeal.’

‘You’re an idiot, Yifan,’ Kyungsoo said as he shook his head.

‘I already told you, Kyungsoo, join me next time! Are you interested in joining, Chanyeol?’ Yifan shifted his attention to Chanyeol, hopeful for a new initiative.

Chanyeol raised his hands. ‘I’m not that much of a bad boy, I rather stay away from those kind of practices.’

Yifan chuckled. ‘I only tell you the juicy stories of course. Next time I’ll bring some pictures, you can see where Junmyeon and I all venture off to. It’s great fun!’

Baekhyun couldn’t resist but stir the pot. ‘So you guys are like a gang yourself, right?’ He asked jokingly, but he was genuinely curious about what their ‘motor club’ was all about. Despite seeing them often in the bar and occasionally chitchatting with them, certainly when Chanyeol drags Baekhyun with him to their table, he never really found out what they do.

Yifan glanced at Kyungsoo, who shook his head.

‘I wouldn’t say a gang. We’re just a bunch of motor enthusiasts meeting up every once in a while,’ Kyungsoo answered Baekhyun.

‘Why do you occasionally have bruises? Are you not part of the Devil’s Desert?’ Baekhyun prodded.

Kyungsoo’s eyes hardened.

‘Baekhyun…’ Chanyeol whispered.

Yifan laughed and slapped his hand, too harshly, against Kyungsoo’s shoulder. ‘We aren’t. Actually, they don’t like us. So we stay away from them as much as possible, easy as that. No need to worry about it, Baekhyun.’ Despite Kyungsoo’s curious disdain, Yifan smiled softly. It must have been asked more often, since no other sane person rides a motorbike here.

‘I can’t believe you just asked that,’ Chanyeol said while they were on their way home. They just waved the two bikers goodbye, who both drove on in the other direction of which they went.

‘What, as if you aren’t curious? At least we got it out of the way now.’

‘So, now everything is good?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They’re cool, they seem like nice people, but sometimes nice people have a knack for getting into trouble.’

Chanyeol bit his lip. The humming of the engine was the only thing heard in a while.

‘Maybe you’re right. I’m a little worried.’

Baekhyun glanced at the man, curious where the sentiment arose from.

Baekhyun hated to admit it, but he began to really enjoy going to the Jongdae’s studio. More often than not did he decide to hop by and share a drink with Jongdae. Occasionally Yixing would be there too. It was always a guess what Jongdae would do at the moment. Sometimes he was tattooing clients, both new, old, friend and foe, but most often he was found at the huge desk in the middle sketching till his hands cramped. He would also lift his head up when the bell by the door rang, always a smile on his lips.

This time was no exception.

‘Hey, Baekhyun!’ He waved him over and placed a sketch in front of him. ‘Whatcha think? Is it what you had in mind?’ Baekhyun was already contemplating his fourth tattoo after the last one he got.

‘Excellent, I love it! I want some small changes, can I show you?’ He asked for a pencil and tracing paper. Drawing over the design of what he liked and altering what he wanted changed was scary. Jongdae was looking right over his shoulder, and Baekhyun had never been known for drawing anything halfway decent.

‘It’s only just a rough sketch, I’m not as talented as you are.’ Baekhyun apologized for his lousy work. Jongdae nodded and sat down to work on the design again. Baekhyun had grown familiar in the shop and grabbed his own drink, bringing another one for the artist. This time he was the one lurking behind the other and checking his work. He always admired artists. He couldn’t even draw a straight line, and here Jongdae was just sketching up a master piece like it was nothing.

‘How about this?’ He asked, inviting Baekhyun to take a closer look.

‘Don’t change a thing.’

Jongdae smiled brightly at him. This guy really was chipper all day every day.

That day Baekhyun learned that tattoos on your foot are extremely painful. He also learned Jongdae gets up really close when he’s tattooing, and bent over Baekhyun’s body to get the right angles he was clearly not wearing underwear underneath his leather pants. For two hours Baekhyun had a perfect view on his perky behind, which was not an entirely unpleasant distraction from the pain. He couldn’t tell if Jongdae actually noticed his stares. He occasionally looked up to see if Baekhyun was still alright, but other than that he remained focused as he blabbered on to make them both feel more at ease.

‘I can’t believe you made it!’ Chanyeol yelled when he first heard Baekhyun was entering the regional championships. It was a quartal competition as pre-selection for those talented enough to win, or score high enough, continuing onto the international championships.

Baekhyun himself was stunned as well, though he had been silently expecting to pass. Zitao had been invited for it the previous time, but he didn’t show up this time around.

Chanyeol had offered to drive Baekhyun. It was the best way of transport, because public transport in their small town was shit. While Baekhyun had the tendency to become very subdued when the nerves were getting to him, Chanyeol was the other way around. He was giddy like a child, resulting in a very restless ride carried with loud music and an even louder Chanyeol. It was appreciated though, it helped Baekhyun lose himself in the excitement as well.

The venue itself was huge. He had seen it on the tv before, but never did he imagine the size of it to look this big when he was standing there. There were five rings, separated by high fences. Each was filled with ramps, railings and deep craters, allowing for a magnitude of stunts. Chanyeol was equally amazed, if the stomping on the floor was any good indication.

‘You’re amazing, Baekhyun,’ he said, ‘You’re gonna own this!’ In his excitement he scooped up Baekhyun into a hug. It was a dream they once both strived towards, but it seemed Chanyeol was happy to experience it second hand these days.

They wandered around for a bit, checking out all the good places before Baekhyun excused himself to go practice. After thirty minutes of warm up in the smallest ring, he took off into the second, larger one. This one held a huge ramp, one that was in the competitive ring too. He saw many riders try their luck on it. It was a given that if you mastered it, a win would be within reach. It was dangerous though, and many had never taken it before, because it was not the standard measurement of a ramp you could find in a park or skate hall.

Baekhyun was not going to be a foolish one, certainly not after his tattoo incidence two months prior, and took a normal dive into the crater. This ring was a lot larger, which asked for a lot more leg power to pull himself to the different obstacles. He knew this was what the competition ring would be like too, so it would be best if he would adjust to it quickly and then save up his energy.

He should have known something was up, when the ring became noticeable more deserted, while the noise pollution rose. He was a little worried everyone was expected to stop practice, so he followed the noise and left the ring. What he didn’t expect was Minseok on top on the huge wooden fence, waving at the people that started to crowd him within the practice ring. Baekhyun never expected a bunch of rowdy street kids to start screaming like zealous fans, the impact of their idol was impressive. Minseok waved one last time and disappeared behind the fence again. The group dispersed again like nothing had happened.

‘Baekhyun!’ Minseok smiled when Baekhyun located the man that spoke his name. He was at the bar getting a whole bunch of bottled energy drinks. ‘Need help?’ Baekhyun offered. Minseok nodded and gave him a few bottles. ‘Come join us, Jongdae is also here.’ Minseok brought him to the VIP lounge. There were surprisingly a lot of people. Even a camera crew was present! Minseok tapped Baekhyun when he had been standing still, staring at the place, and brought him to the couches. Yixing was chatting with Jongdae and another guy who sat next to him on the couch.

‘Look who I found!’ Minseok stated to get their attention. Yixing nodded at Baekhyun and grabbed a drink, while Jongdae stood up and walked over to him.

‘Hey Baek, here to dominate the competition?’ Jongdae said and placed a hand on his lower back, guiding him to the couch. Baekhyun was happy to sit down after his tiresome practice. Yixing gave him a small side hug, before returning to his conversation with the other man. The other man was a bit peculiar. With blond bleached hair and a small face, it was hard not to notice him. Despite talking to Yixing, he was fixated on Minseok.

‘Are you okay? You seem a little pale.’ Jongdae pulled him out of his thoughts.

‘Yeah, just a little nervous. It’s always like this.’ He sent him what he thought was a reassuring smile. The man took it and smiled back at him. He even scooted a little closer to him, which made sense because he joined the conversation with Yixing and the other man, pulling Baekhyun right into it. They were talking about Yixing’s latest art project. Most of it went unheard by Baekhyun, who was still stressing over the competition. That was until another, presumably, participant yelled into the room that they had to go to the participation benches.

Everyone of their little circle patted Baekhyun on the back and gave their blessing, but it still felt a little hollow. It wasn’t like he was angry at them, but he realized the love that Minseok had surrounded himself with and that was something he was a little jealous for. Everyone came over to hug him, joke with him or otherwise tease him for not showing any of his nerves. Even Yixing was more lively than he usually was, joking and playing around without his art to be hung up on. Baekhyun walked out before Minseok was done, but the man caught up with him soon enough.

He slung an arm around him and pinched his cheek. ‘Don’t let the nerves get to you,’ he whispered into his ear before he let go of him and rushed off in a different direction.

It was unsurprising when Minseok was called for the gold medal, with the official pass to move to the national championships. Three others managed to receive the pass. Baekhyun’s performance was just not good enough, but it was alright, he told himself. He had mastered the tricks he did, but others had done more complicated tricks. This was only his first time in the regional championships. He had shown his face, and he had shown his face didn’t eat dirt too, which was more he could tell than some of the other newbie participants.

After the award ceremony Baekhyun searched for Chanyeol. It took him thirty minutes, being stopped by participants to chat and endless walking to find Chanyeol at the snack stand.

‘But I got one for you too!’ Chanyeol quickly handed Baekhyun a corndog. A welcome treat after so much exertion of energy.

Chanyeol suddenly turned his head. ‘Is that Lay?’

It was indeed Yixing who was walking straight to them. Chanyeol heard the stories from Baekhyun about him hanging around in Jongdae’s tattoo parlour, but he never actually met him besides that time the artist painted the walls of their local skate hall.

‘Hey Baek, we’re having a party at the hotel tonight, wanna join?’ Yixing asked. Chanyeol was having a small breakdown, like he just figured out Baekhyun was part of the cool kids now. Yixing only just now seemed to have become aware of the taller man. Chanyeol, in return, hid his smile behind the cuffs of his shirt.

‘Can my friend join?’ Baekhyun pointed at Chanyeol.

‘Of course!’ The man replied. He introduced himself to Chanyeol and gave them the details.

What Baekhyun did not expect was the whole lounge area of the hotel was rented for the party. He ran into multiple participants of the competition. Most of them had lost, like Baekhyun, which gave the atmosphere a bit of an awkward feel. On the other hand, it bonded them together too. Each shared their best wishes, which Baekhyun returned. 

Chanyeol had walked off when Baekhyun was talking to the umpteenth BMXer, but was found back scouting the waiters for the free drinks and snacks.

‘Want a drink?’ Chanyeol gave him a wineglass with dark content. ‘I think you’ll like this.’ He winked at him. He knew Baekhyun wasn’t fond of alcohol.

Baekhyun was pleasantly surprised when he sipped the drink and found it to be quite sweet. The tingling aftermath of the alcohol was still there, but it was well masked by the sugariness. He nodded his thanks to Chanyeol, who smiled in return.

‘It’s blackberry cider. You can ask for more at the bar.’

They stayed where they were for a while. The music was loud and people were bustling around. The waiters walked their asses off with a variety of fancy snacks and deep fried goodness.

Only a little while after did they find Minseok and his friends. They were at the few sofas scattered around the building. Minseok was crowded by other BMXers, while the others conversed mostly among themselves. Jongdae looked up and smiled at Baekhyun.

‘How did you end up here, Yixing?’ Chanyeol asked. In the moments Baekhyun wasn’t there, the two had gotten familiar enough to be calling Lay by his real name.

‘I have a brand deal here.’ He glimmered. He established his name in the scene well enough to earn himself his income for it. It probably helped that he was associated with a huge BMX star, but his art was undeniably beautiful.

They all watched Minseok excuse himself from the crowd and walk over. He turned to the blonde-haired man Baekhyun had seen him with all day.

‘Luhan, the rest, let’s go upstairs.’ The same blonde-haired man Baekhyun saw at the previous party, Luhan, jumped up and fitted his hand around Minseok’s waist. The rest followed suit, like they were trained for just this moment. It was kind of weird. Chanyeol passed Baekhyun and linked his arm. It was only when he looked behind the man and saw that Yixing had his hand on the taller’s back to instigate that they were invited too.

They went to Minseok’s two person hotel room. Everyone settled around the room, with Minseok dropping himself onto the bed.

‘Was that enough socializing?’ Yixing joked and nudged his side. Minseok jumped.

‘Yeah, I always get so tired of these parties. So many people with so many questions.’

‘They just want some time with the great Kim Minseok’, Luhan teased and joined Yixing’s nudging by tickling the BMXer.

‘Stop, stop!’ He yelled through his laughter and distress. When both men backed down, he slapped them on the arm. ‘That’s no way to treat the GREAT Kim Minseok.’

It seemed to work, sort of. Yixing gave him a hug that seemed too tight to be comfortable, while Luhan embraced them both with the same strength Yixing was using.

‘Never mind them, they’re just kids,’ Jongdae said to Chanyeol and Baekhyun, who both looked on amusedly by the playful display. It made the others scoff.

‘Don’t be like that, if it weren’t for us you’d be the gayest out of all of us.’ Luhan replied.

‘Sttt, don’t blow my cover!’ Jongdae winked at Baekhyun, before going over Luhan and attack him.

The rest of the evening was spent much like that. Minseok ordered room service and wine. Together they toasted and then played card games. In the short time spent getting drunk, Baekhyun learned Luhan was probably too affectionate to just be a close friend of Minseok, Yixing was not as quiet and mysterious as he normally was when he had some liquor in him, and the most disturbing fact was that Jongdae was even more handsome clinging onto his friends and laughing to his heart’s content over stupid jokes that were definitely below the level of intelligence a sober man would have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far, hope you're enjoying it!


	4. Chapter 4

During the competition, Jongdae stayed at the special reserved seats Minseok had acquired for his friends. He sat next to Luhan. Jongdae never fully understood the scoring for BMX tricks, but Luhan almost never failed to give an accurate ranking. When Baekhyun was up next, Jongdae shifted in his seat.

‘Curious how he’ll do?’

‘Yeah…’ Baekhyun had been talking about his training so often, Jongdae had grown curious how he would actually perform. He had only seen him at the skate hall once, but he had focused on one trick alone so seeing him do a full routine was enticing.

Luhan laughed and slapped Jongdae’s back. ‘You’re too obvious. You like this kid so much?’

Jongdae ignored him and they both watched the performance unfold. Luhan gave small comments to enlighten Jongdae, ‘Oh that was a nice one. That turn was slick, but he lost control of his wheel for a split second. If he makes this jump clean, he’ll be within the top 10.’

When Baekhyun’s bike came to a halt and he waved to the crowd, Jongdae released the breath he had unknowingly been holding. The jump was clean, but seeing Luhan’s eyebrows furrowed, it wouldn’t be enough.

‘Well?’

‘Definitely not bad. Minseok was right, he has a lot of potential, but he’s too hesitant.’ Luhan nodded to himself. ‘So, when are you going to tell him that you like him?’

Jongdae flustered. ‘I don’t plan on doing that.’

‘Why not? You told me he’s coming to your place all the time, even Minseok ships you two already.’

‘Shut up. And he’s just going to the tattoo parlour. And I’m pretty sure he’s still wary of me for being a biker.’

‘Oh right, how is that situation going?’

‘Shitty. Junmyeon is being targeted and Sehun doesn’t even tell us when he’s gotten beaten up anymore.’ Those gang bastards were really targeting them these days, his friend group could never really hang out anymore without feeling a looming threat hanging above them.

‘Targeted, how so?’

Jongdae shook his head. ‘I don’t know, they have his identity card copied and this one biker keeps threatening me with it. I have no clue what they’d even do with that.’

Luhan bit his lip. Jongdae knew how he felt about the ordeal, and although he supported Jongdae’s motorcycle hobby, it worried him he and his friends put themselves into such danger.

A few contestants later, among the last few to still participate, Minseok was called up. The audience were at its loudest, and both Jongdae and Luhan beamed subconsciously with him. Minseok was at his A game, finishing his round neatly and fully in control. Even Jongdae could tell this competition was his, hands down.

The party Minseok threw, arranged by Luhan mostly, was customary for the smaller competitions he attended. His name carried too much fame to go unnoticed through these events, so he’d throw them to encourage the other contestants to keep working hard and it would allow him to keep face for the community until he got tired. He hung around in the room for around an hour, mostly spent chatting with other BMXers. Some he had become friends with, others were just acquaintances he showed his good will to.

In the hotel room, Baekhyun was there and gravitated towards Jongdae while they talked.

‘You did very well, Baekhyun.’

Baekhyun whisked off the compliment. ‘Thanks, but I was not my best today.’

‘I can only imagine how good you’ll be on your best, then.’ From their conversations Jongdae had picked up on how harsh Baekhyun was towards himself, and he heavily undermined his own skills. Jongdae expected a worse performance, but he trusted Luhan’s word on how well he did.

Over the hours the others had inched away from the bed, with most sitting on the floor playing a card game. Jongdae was lightly intoxicated from the fifth beer he was drinking, while Baekhyun’s cheeks burned red from the few ciders he had.

‘Do you often go to these competitions for Minseok?’

‘Sometimes, when I have time and they are held nearby. Usually Luhan invites me to join, he doesn’t like to sit alone.’

‘Stt, don’t say that!’ Luhan said across the room.

‘It’s true though!’ He was happy to join whenever he had time. Sometimes everyone was so caught up in their work, weeks would go by before they saw each other again. These events were as good an excuse as any to get them together again.

After Baekhyun had fallen asleep on Minseok’s and Luhan’s hotel bed, Jongdae dispersed himself to the others. Only Chanyeol and Luhan were still awake, chatting in the corner of the room on the floor. Yixing was curled up on a chair while Minseok laid in his boyfriend’s lap, not really sure whether he was really asleep or not. Luhan was talking about computers. It was actually surprising to see Chanyeol being half-what competent in stringing on the conversation about such a boring topic.

‘You still up, Jongdae?’ Luhan said. Jongdae joined them on the floor.

‘Yeah, though I think it’s time for everyone to find their beds. Yixing is going to have a stiff neck if he stays like that all night.’

Luhan nodded, then turned to Chanyeol. ‘Where is your hotel, Chanyeol?’

‘We don’t have one, we just drove here.’

‘Oh… It’s a little too late to arrange new rooms now.’

‘If you don’t mind sharing the bed, Yixing and I sleep in the room adjacent from here. If Baek sleeps here, what he’s already doing, we’ll be fine, right?’ Jongdae suggested.

‘I don’t want to burden you guys, don’t you need your rest?’ Chanyeol glanced between the two, a little uncomfortable from the offer.

‘I insist you to stay. You and Baekhyun are both too intoxicated to drive,’ Luhan said.

‘As long as you don’t snore, it’s fine by me.’

After objecting first, Chanyeol agreed. Jongdae brought Yixing to their room with Chanyeol following behind. Settled in bed, Jongdae wondered if Chanyeol didn’t feel awkward. They didn’t speak much, and he hadn’t known Yixing personally before today. To give him some privacy, Jongdae kept his back towards him, huddling close to Yixing to give the tallest of the bunch more room.

The next morning, Jongdae and his roommates sat at the table for the breakfast buffet with splitting headaches. A few minutes later they were joined by the guys who slept in the other room. While Baekhyun looked as awful as the former, Luhan and Minseok were pretty cheerful.

‘Morning! Did you all sleep well?’ Minseok asked.

The rest answered in mumbles. Baekhyun sat down adjacent from Jongdae, talking to Chanyeol how he was confused when he woke up.

‘I almost thought I had slept with Minseok, wouldn’t that have been a lovely surprise,’ he joked when the couple was getting food.

‘Yeah, sorry we didn’t warn you, but you were sleeping so soundly. You should thank Luhan and Jongdae.’

Baekhyun turned to Jongdae and did so. ‘I think I’ve fallen asleep while we talked, I’m sorry.’

Jongdae brushed it off. Having seen Baekhyun lull to sleep was the cutest sight and his heart ached from being so close to him. He admitted he had a crush on the man since they met, but having interacted with him more often only made his heart grow fonder. 

‘Hey, you’re looking glum,’ Yifan said when Junmyeon walked into the bar. The latter hit his fist against the table, shaking the drinks that were on them.

‘I cannot believe the fucking police. This is the fifth time I’m reporting abuse, and you know what they told me?! Maybe I should stop riding a motorcycle if that is what provokes them.’ His cheeks were tinted pink from his anger. Jongdae took his hand and patted his shoulder.

‘Did you tell them about those invoices sent to you constantly?’ Sehun asked.

Jongdae sat upright. ‘What? Is that happening?’

‘Yeah. I don’t know how. I get invoices from shady laundry companies and medical supplies. My bank told me those invoices could only be made with some form of identity-‘

The blood drained from Jongdae’s face. He should have known that biker was up to no good when he returned Junmyeon’s wallet to him in the tattoo shop.

‘They’re all trash,’ Kyungsoo said.

‘They’re more than trash. Aren’t they here to protect us? But nooo they only have time to write fines and raid our base.’

‘-e you okay?’ Yifan nudged Jongdae.

‘I…’ Jongdae sighed and came clean with the details of how he got Junmyeon’s wallet.

‘A biker returned it to you and you didn’t tell me about it?!’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you further, I didn’t think it’d have such repercussions.’

‘I need a moment.’ Junmyeon got up and excused himself to the restroom.

Yifan put an arm around Jongdae. ‘Don’t worry about him, he’ll cool down.’

‘Maybe work on your timing next time,’ Sehun said, his comment awarding him with a scowl from Kyungsoo. He quickly apologized.

Despite multiple reports given on the physical abuse they had all gone through, with substantial evidence, the police was understaffed and thought it useless to mingle with ‘loitering youth quarrels’. It wasn’t unheard of that the Devil’s Desert gang was involved with the police, allowing many blind eyes to be turned towards the criminal activity going on in the country side.

Junmyeon marched back and stood at the head of the table.

‘We cannot sit by idly anymore.’

‘Then what do you suggest?’

‘We have to fight back. And I have an idea how.’

The first one to rise is Kyungsoo, fire in his eyes as he agreed. Yifan stood up next. Jongdae joined the few that stood, sharing a nod with them. They were all too sick of letting it happen any longer. At 2 am, they took to their bikes and found the house of the alleged gang member, whose address Junmyeon had figured out somehow. The plan was simple; find any kind of information about their main base. Maybe rough up the homeowner a bit if the occasion allowed. Actually, maybe it was only simple because no one dared to think too long about what it would all entail. Everyone’s hands were itching to be used, the pent up aggression all too eagerly released for some sense of justice.

With the four of them, Jongdae, Junmyeon, Kyungsoo and Yifan, they arrived in the street. The man they were looking for was living in the small city thirty minutes away from them, holed up in a tall apartment complex that must have seen better days. They parked the bikes a street away to keep the noise down. It was already hard enough being stealthy as a group. The steps they took towards the place seemed to get slower with each step.

‘I don’t know, guys…’ Yifan said, ‘are we sure this is a good idea?’

‘It’s most definitely not a good idea,’ Kyungsoo replied.

Everyone looked at each other, Jongdae being the first to get in a fit of giggles from the dire expressions of his friends’ faces. Yifan naturally joined, Kyungsoo adding a chuckle in as well.

‘We are insane, guys.’ Jongdae shared a glance with his friends. He settled at Junmyeon, who was slightly awkward as he smiled along. Worried, perhaps. Junmyeon hated acting up, but he hated seeing his friends hurt even more.

‘How about we ditch these,’ Yifan held up the iron knuckles one of their members had distributed to them before they left, ‘and just knock on his door and talk with the guy?’

‘These people have been beating us up and you just want us to try and talk to one of them?’ Junmyeon asked, his mouth ajar.

Yifan shrugged. ‘Might as well give it a shot. We haven’t ridden this far for nothing, right?’

Kyungsoo was the first to start walking again. Jongdae followed. They were both the more courageous ones of the bunch, despite the tough façade either of the older guys liked to put up. Upon arrival of the apartment, a group of youngsters just walked out and kept the door open for them. They didn’t walk a straight line anymore, reeking of alcohol underneath the heavy layer of cologne and perfume. Kyungsoo ‘tsst’ed and shook his head.

Yifan and Junmyeon were stalling their time on the stairs. Kyungsoo didn’t care and knocked on the door of the apartment. Knocked again. Rang the bell. No answer. He turned to Jongdae. ‘Now what?’

Jongdae glanced around. He tugged on the doormat, then scavenged through the fake plant hung at the wall. His finger touched cold and rigged steel.

‘Bingo,’ he said as he pulled out a key and showed it to Kyungsoo. The latter smirked and took it from him, opening the door for them both. They both glanced at each other for a moment, caught in their crime with both doubt and excitement.

Needless to say, their little house tour was unfruitful. Yifan opted to watch the door, while Junmyeon was a nervous mess and ran outside. ‘To watch the outer door,’ he had said. Despite rummaging through most of the drawers they could find, nothing revealed anything interesting. Kyungsoo had taken the liberty to rip up some of the papers he found, pulling entire drawers out of its cabin and leave them scattered. Uncertain the neighbours would hear, it was possibly the most decent house ruining ever committed in history. Kyungsoo stole some snacks and Jongdae a phone charger. That’ll teach the man not to mess with them! Plus Jongdae really needed a new one, his had been malfunctioning and those with fast charging are so expensive.

They locked the door and placed the key back to where they found it. Arriving downstairs, Junmyeon sighed a breath of relief and hurried them all back to the bikes. The adrenaline was still flowing in Jongdae and it was a feeling he wouldn’t mind experiencing more often, the giddiness of potentially getting caught doing something illegal, but also of trying to find what they were looking for. It was exhilarating, and looking at Kyungsoo, he was not the only one experiencing it that way. He was smiling and laughing, being as hyperactive as Jongdae when they returned to their bikes and discussed their thoughts. It even caught Yifan off-guard, having Kyungsoo so uncharacteristically active.

***

It went so well. Baekhyun owned the half pipe and did a deep drop. The audience screamed. Everything seemed to have moved in slow motion, the deafening sound and his breath still catching up with him proved too much for him. His vision went black.

The next time he woke up, his friends were around him. Chanyeol, Zitao and Jongin.

‘You did it!! You fucker, you did it!’ Zitao exclaimed. Jongin hit him on the shoulder, to which Zitao apologized in a much more quiet voice. ‘Everything you performed was excellent, Baek. You’re going to qualify, I’m sure!’ Their excitement was warranted when Baekhyun name was yelled to pick up his gold medal. It was a regional competition, allowing him to qualify for the international championships. His name was becoming more known, which ultimately led to more people crowding up once he started talking with some. It was weird how quickly it shifted. A few months ago nobody would have batted an eye to the weird-looking kid, just another guy with a dream. Now he was Baekhyun, a guy with a dream and a bit of talent. He wasn’t quite there yet, but he was all up for the compliments he received.

After the ceremony, Baekhyun messaged Minseok. The party a few months prior had gotten him close enough to him to earn a phone number. Hesitant to chat with him just for fun, now he finally had something decent to mention. Minseok was overjoyed and told him he’d book them the flight tickets. Like that, Minseok had taken him under his wing. Over the weeks before the tournament they chatted a lot more. At the airport they met in person, and despite Baekhyun’s previous idolization of the BMXer, he found himself at ease with the man.

The five star hotel booked by Minseok didn’t disappoint. ‘Sponsored’ he had mentioned when Baekhyun started protesting about not having seen any bill of his expenses. Minseok shushed him away to the room that had been booked for him. His room held a queen-size bed he dropped himself onto. With gold painted décor and a chandelier above the bed, the bathroom separated by only glass and a bathtub that could fit two people in, Baekhyun never felt more delightfully out of place.

‘You alright there?’ Minseok came into his room and dropped himself on the bed as well.

‘More than alright! This place is wack.’ Baekhyun turned his face to him. Minseok had his eyes closed, his shirt slightly exposing his collarbone – a purple smudge on it.

‘So that blonde dude, Luhan, is your boyfriend?’ Baekhyun asked. ‘For how long?’

Minseok thought a moment on that. ‘About seven years now? Yeah, I think so.’

‘You are very fond of him, aren’t you?’

Minseok chuckled, a slight blush on his cheek. ‘Yeah… I don’t want to be all gross now, but we get along very well.’

A relationship many would be jealous of, Baekhyun thought.

‘You should come and have dinner with us sometimes, Baekhyun.’ He smiled and added with a wink, ‘Luhan was bummed out he couldn’t get to know you better last time.’

Baekhyun blinked. He didn’t think he made a big enough impression to have the man’s attention, but maybe his connection with both Jongdae and Minseok had something to do with it. ‘Thank you.

Do you usually stay in hotels like this?’

‘Well, not as ridiculous as these, for sure, but I try to get a good place. A good night’s sleep is essential, and I don’t want to risk a crick in the back. Speaking of which, I arranged a masseuse in a couple of hours by the way, don’t fall asleep yet.’

The next day Baekhyun experienced the most hectic tournament he had yet to participate in. It affected his performance, but considering the skill of those others around him it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. He was most content when he finally got back to the hotel and could take a long bath. Minseok was understanding and let him be while he went out to meet with friends.

Minseok and Baekhyun were set on taking the plane back, only for it to be delayed by 4 hours due to unfavourable weather conditions at the place of arrival. A bit of delay didn’t bother them. The duty-free shops kept them both happy, with each of them buying dumb souvenirs for loved ones. Then they started dressing each other up in ridiculous outfits at the Gucci store, because they had to fill their time somehow, right? Baekhyun learned he looked surprisingly beautiful in a dress, with pictures to prove it to Chanyeol once they get home, as curtesy by Minseok.

To complete their mischievous behaviour, Minseok bought them both Gucci slides, ‘because that is what the cool kids wear these days’. Baekhyun joked about selling it on eBay, to which Minseok joked that he would earn more if he sold one of Minseok’s t-shirts.

‘I’ll remember that when I’m in need of money, thanks.’

The bigger issue with their delay would be the lack of public transportation available to get home. The buses were a nightmare in the shitty small town Baekhyun lived in. Only once an hour one would go, but they stopped around 11pm. Apparently his distress became noticeable when they finally sat down in the plane.

‘What’s on your mind?’ Minseok asked.

Baekhyun pouted. ‘I don’t know how to get home after we land. My parents are out of town and the buses don’t go anymore.’

‘Oh.’ Minseok replied.

Just oh? Baekhyun thought. The steward interrupted his chance to continue the conversation. The plane finally started moving towards the departure lane.

‘Do you still have clean underwear?’ Minseok asked after they were up in the air.

Baekhyun’s eyes bulged and glanced at him. ‘Yeah, don’t you…?’ He glanced at the man’s crotch. He didn’t know Minseok was terrified of flying.

‘NO, not that!’ Minseok backslapped Baekhyun on the stomach. ‘I didn’t pee my pants, thank you very much.’

They both laughed harder than they should, earning an annoyed glance from the man seated one row in front of them.

‘I mean, I called Luhan to pick us up. Weather is shit back home, so it’s best to come home with us. Jongdae is also there so he can take you home the next day. Sounds like a good idea?’

‘Thank you very much.’ A strange feeling settled into his stomach. A strange surge of belonging, for having gained a friend in Minseok and having been accepted within his little circle from the very beginning already. While his performance was subpar, he gained an experience.

‘So you live with your boyfriend?’

‘Yeah. Luhan works from home most of the time, being a hacker and all, so I never come home to an empty house.’

‘He hacks. Like in, personal data and government secrets?’ A disturbing thought arose as he imagined what kind of things he would be hacking into. Good to keep in mind if his nudes ever got leaked. Then again, he would already know the culprit to be Chanyeol, the only one that he had sent a few to.

Minseok chuckled. ‘I always love when people pull that face when I tell them. He’s an ethical hacker. The kind that gets hired by companies to hack into their systems, trying to find a fault in the safety system or bugs.’

‘Wow, that’s so cool. How did you guys meet then?’

‘I know right? I have no clue what or how he does it though. And we met through Jongdae at a party, where we bonded over our mutual hatred for parties.’

‘Sure, that makes sense.’ Baekhyun shrugged and snorted at the weirdness. A professional BMXer and a hacker dating, it sure was an odd combination.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, as in, Baekhyun slept throughout most of it. The small bits he was awake, he found Minseok reading a book most of the time. At other times he was sipping his drink thoughtfully, or thoughtlessly, as he stared out of the tiny plane window.

Upon arrival, they were greeted by Luhan and Jongdae, both of them looking like they had not left the house until now. While Baekhyun had only seen Luhan once, it was in quite formal attire compared to the sweatpants he was wearing now. Jongdae looked much the same, donning sweatpants and a yellow sweater. Seeing Jongdae without any leather was almost unheard of. Even his hair was unkempt, looking fluffy as it framed his face.

Luhan and Minseok had their intimate reunion, while Jongdae and Baekhyun awkwardly figured out what was the appropriate way to greet each other. Jongdae settled for a hug and once he had his arms around Baekhyun, the latter couldn’t help but lean into it and lose himself for a moment. Jongdae wore a weird smile when he retracted.

‘You’re looking awfully domestic.’ Baekhyun told him. He couldn’t say he disliked it. Jongdae looked a lot more friendly like this. Even the tattoos on his hands were covered by sweater paws.

‘Let me get those for you.’ He grabbed the bigger suitcase from Baekhyun. The long trip, certainly with the delay, had left Baekhyun tired, so he was grateful for the help.

Minseok and Luhan had detached their lips from each other, but their hands were still intertwined. Minseok nudged them to start walking, the weariness on his face reasoned why.

The silence was a comfortable blanket for their long day. Luhan chattered a bit with Jongdae.

‘Did you guys have fun this weekend?’ Minseok asked towards the home-stayers.

‘It was nice, we played some games, ate some food you don’t allow us to eat…’

Minseok rolled his eyes, but Luhan chose to ignore that. Towards Baekhyun he said, ‘Minseok makes sure we never eat junk food, because he is on a constant diet. So Jongdae and I always meet when he is out of town to gorge on all the good things in life.’

‘Sure, I’m the bad guy!’ Minseok pouted. He slung his arm around Baekhyun. ‘At least Baek is on my side. You eat healthily, right?’

Baekhyun lowered his head. A good diet was crucial for someone trying to reach the top in any sort of sports, but Baekhyun had a sweet tooth that was hard to ignore. ‘Well, if there is some pizza leftovers in the fridge, I might join the dark side, Minseok.’ He said it with as much regret as he could, earning a scandalized gasp from Minseok.

‘Aww yeah!’ Luhan cheered him on. Jongdae chuckled and shook his head.

Luhan drove them home. Baekhyun was mostly quiet, serene in the backseat after a weekend he wouldn’t ever forget. The rain was beating on the front window insistently, mixing with the soft words whispered by the men in the front seat. He caught Jongdae staring at him, who simpered and then averted his eyes to the window next to him.

Minseok and Luhan’s house was neat, stylish, and unique. The mansion was locked behind an automatic fence, the garden simplistic with a few trees and some overgrown weeds nearly hiding the path to the parking spots and the front of the house.

‘The practice ring is in the back,’ Minseok nonchalantly told him, ‘I will show you tomorrow.’ Luhan ran to the front door with one of Minseok’s suit cases and unlocked the door. Even from the short distance, they all managed to catch enough rain to have their clothes unpleasantly stick to them.

Inside, Baekhyun marvelled at the sight of the open kitchen and living room. It was spacious with its white walls and simple furniture arrangement. Several paintings covered the walls, many distinguished pieces of Yixing and Jongdae. Minseok gave him a small room tour across the house. The halls were decked out with trophies Minseok had won over the years, along with small goodies and merchandise. A few notable photographs were also hung around, some of Minseok or Luhan’s achievements on photo, others were from people of whom Baekhyun only recognized a few BMX cyclists and Jongdae. There were also a few posters about, game releases, events, big movie ones too. While their house would definitely count as a mansion, it was modest in size and enrichment.

‘I hope you’re okay with sharing the guestroom with Dae, we only have one.’ Minseok had said when he concluded the tour in his own room. He looked a little apologetic, he had not mentioned this before after all.

Baekhyun patted him on the shoulder. ‘I’m already grateful you brought me here. Thank you very much.’

‘Of course. You’re part of the team now!’

Baekhyun didn’t know what this team meant, but to be part of it overwhelmed him a little. Downstairs Luhan pointed him to the guestroom at the left rear of the ground floor.

‘We put your stuff there, I will have another drink with Jongdae, feel free to join. There is still some pizza left.’ He winked.

Despite his disapproving stomach, Baekhyun locked himself up in the guestroom. The room had a view of the side and back of the garden, adjacent was its own bathroom. He took his sweet time preparing for bed. He stared at himself in the bathroom’s mirror. His eyes were sunken and droopy, more than how they usually set. Mixed feelings arose. He hadn’t won the tournament, he didn’t even come close. But now he had a sense of what he was working towards. He had the support of more people he ever had before. He returned to the bedroom and flung himself onto the bed that hadn’t been claimed by Jongdae’s stuff.

Just as he nearly succumbed to the luxury of the bed offered him, someone knocked on the door.

‘Oh, you’re still awake. I’ll be quick so you can sleep.’ Jongdae scurried into the bathroom. Five minutes later he returned and hopped into the bed next to him.

‘Sleep tight,’ the man whispered and turned his back towards Baekhyun. He was huddled into the blankets. Baekhyun wanted to talk but didn’t want to disturb him either.

‘Jongdae?’ He asked quietly. No reaction. ‘Jongdae?’ Baekhyun reached out from his blanket with his finger ready to poke him, but the man suddenly stirred and flopped around. The pile of blankets now had a face appearing from it, a silly sight that had Baekhyun scoffing.

‘What, can’t sleep?’ He asked.

Baekhyun didn’t know how to start the conversation.

Jongdae propped up his head with an arm. ‘Hmm?’

‘This whole... Biker ordeal, what is it about?’ Baekhyun braved himself to speak. They should be familiar enough to speak about this.

‘It’s a hobby that grew into something more sinister. Some people try to pick fights with us and we’re struggling to get them off our tail.’

‘You mean the Devil’s Desert?’

‘Yeah. They are vicious.’ He hesitated. ‘We’ve all have been beat up at some point, and Yifan is working overtime fixing our bikes from the many times they’ve been thrashed.’

‘Is it worth it?’ Baekhyun asked. He had never felt endangered when he was on his BMX, so it was hard to imagine. In retrospect, it was a stupid question, as he wouldn’t give up his hobby even when his family or friends had been against it. Saying he went too far into making it a job and that it was wasted time.

‘Of course. I wouldn’t give up this brotherhood I have just because some guys feel threatened by our presence. It just sucks that we cannot do much against those guys...’

Baekhyun bit his lip. ‘A tricky situation.’

‘Yup... Do you still think badly of me-, I mean, us?’

‘Badly?’ Baekhyun cocked his head.

‘Don’t act like we didn’t see the glances you shot us, or the warnings you gave your friends about us.’ Baekhyun couldn’t read his face, but his ease smiles were gone.

‘I don’t know...’ Baekhyun earnestly replied. He did not think badly of them individually. He had spent a few evenings in the bar with Jongdae’s friends, even more hours spent with Jongdae in his shop. To be involved with them was another story. It wasn’t like Baekhyun was unfamiliar with unjustified hateful crimes.

‘You don’t know?’ Jongdae asked, physically distancing himself on the bed as he spoke the words in disdain. It made Baekhyun want to lean in, but he held his place and tongue.

‘I get it. It’s okay. You’re not the first to disapprove of my actions. What I do not get is how you still end up in my tattoo parlour every week, or how you don’t do anything to have me out of your life. It confuses me...’ He avoided eye contact, letting the fabric of the blanket in his hand take his full attention.

‘I like hanging out with you. I know that much. I just don’t want to get my ass beaten over it. Looking like me, I have had enough beatings to fill a lifetime,’ Baekhyun said.

‘I know. I don’t want that for you either. I like you after all.’ He gave a small smile, almost shy.

Baekhyun replied with a smile of his own. They wordlessly agreed it to be the end of the conversation, both turning around to sleep.

Vague dreams kept Baekhyun captive in his sleep. Something pleasant they were, though. The hand of a lover stroked his hair, eliciting a moan from Baekhyun. His lover commented on it, a soft giggle that shook Baekhyun out of his slumber. To his horror he realized he had his face on someone’s stomach, that someone could only be...

‘Jongdae...?’ Baekhyun lifted his head and stared at the man lying underneath him. Jongdae’s hand dropped from where they had nestled into the roots of Baekhyun’s hair onto the bed.

‘Morning,’ he whispered. His voice was raw from slumber too.

‘How long was I...?

Jongdae shrugged. ‘I woke up five minutes earlier than you. I didn’t expect you to be a sleepcuddler.’ He grinned.

Baekhyun dropped his head into the pillow that he had dragged next to Jongdae’s body during his sleep . Baekhyun had a severe case of bed cuddling. Like bees to honey, he clung to anything that exuded warmth. If that wasn’t within reach, he would coddle his pillow or blanket. He probably should have warned Jongdae, but he seemed to be more entertained than offended.

With Baekhyun no longer holding Jongdae’s body hostage, the man dragged himself out of bed.

‘By the smell of it, breakfast is almost ready. I’ll go ahead.’ Jongdae hesitated for a moment as he stared at the bed with Baekhyun glancing up at him, then grabbed his phone at the bed and walked out the room.

The strong smell of coffee and fresh baked bread emanated as he left the room. He joined the set table, Jongdae already occupying one of the seats. Luhan was at the stove cooking something, but took his time to turn around and greet him.

‘Slept well?’

‘Yeah.’ He sat adjacent from Jongdae, avoiding eye contact. ‘You too?’

Luhan nodded and came over with the last things he was preparing. ‘Don’t expect such a meal every time you are here.’

‘I wish he still put that much effort into feeding me.’ Jongdae joked. Luhan punched him and bit a snarky comment back, but the words held no venom. He was just about to talk when there was a buzzing sound. Jongdae grabbed the phone from his pocket and mouthed Junmyeon before he accepted the call.

Baekhyun watched as Jongdae’s careless smile vanished and the man excused himself to another room.

‘What’s that about?’ Baekhyun asked.

Luhan shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Jongdae has been worried for his friend for possible identity theft.’

They were both quiet and glancing at the hallway when they heard footsteps. Minseok walked in and then stopped, glancing warily around.

‘What’s wrong?’ He said.

Baekhyun slipped past him as Luhan continued the conversation. It was his best shot, he needed to know what Jongdae was up to. He found him soon enough, standing in one of the hallways, giving perfect leeway for eavesdropping.

‘-at do you think that means?’ Jongdae sounded confused. ‘Are you sure it’s linked to the DD? Even if you’d report it, you know what the police station will do about it…’ He stayed quiet for a bit. ‘Alright, let me know if you need help. I’m having breakfast now--- Yeah, see you.’

Before Baekhyun could turn back, Jongdae turned the corner he was standing behind, giving them both a scare.

‘Oh, Baekhyun, what are you doing here?’ He asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

‘Sorry, I wanted to say breakfast was getting cold. Is everything okay?’

Jongdae visibly relaxed. ‘Thanks. And yeah, Junmyeon had some issues with his bank account, but he’s smart, he’ll fix it.’

They returned to the kitchen and had slow breakfast with the other two. It was still early, Jongdae had to open his shop at 1 pm so he couldn’t stick around for long. Before the time was there, Minseok dragged Baekhyun by the hand to show off his practice hall. It was a massive structure, partly indoors and outdoors. There was even a swimming pool next to the outdoor section. A soft landing for when a drop would go wrong there, Baekhyun thought.

Riding a motorbike was still really cool, Baekhyun agreed to Chanyeol’s statement once again. The weather had cleared up entirely, the warmth of the sun beaming through the leather jacket Baekhyun was given by Jongdae. They were similar in height and frame, so it was a perfect fit. Without fuss Jongdae found Baekhyun’s parental house and dropped him off. Baekhyun thanked him and watched him drive off.

The next time Baekhyun saw the biker, he was at the skate hall again. There was another person with him, one he had seen at the bar a few times, but never when he joined their table. Baekhyun had only belatedly found out about his presence, being too focused on his training. It was surprising to see how quickly people got bored of the achievements of others. While Baekhyun had been praised by many when he came back after the tournament, they died down after two days. Only occasionally he would catch his name whispered by someone, but that was hardly anything new. He didn’t even think about it being positive or negative, they were both common.

Another drop failed and wound gained, Baekhyun sighed and went to the benches. Before he could reach it, he caught Jongdae’s gaze and redirected himself to him.

‘Great to see you again, back on the skateboard I see?’

Jongdae flipped his board effortlessly. ‘Old habits die hard.’

To that Baekhyun cocked his head. ‘What is telling you to quit this one?’

‘Knee injury.’ Jongdae slapped his knee. ‘Used to skate on the daily, before they had to put me through 3 surgeries to get me walking again.’

‘Fuck.’

‘That was exactly what I said. The doctor advised me against any extreme sport, but I have never been good at following orders.’ He grinned.

‘How is it now, doesn’t it hurt to skate?’ Baekhyun questioned the smarts of the man, one wrong move could put him back into the hospital. A minor motor accident to some could prove catastrophic for him too.

‘It does. I get an ache after skating for a while..’

‘But you enjoy it too much to give it up?’

‘Yeah. I bought a motor cycle after the accident for compensation of the loss of my first love. It doesn’t give me the thrill of when you’re airborne on a half-pipe, but the speed is exhilarating in a different way.’

Baekhyun nodded. He gets restless after not practicing his sport after a week too, he couldn’t imagine losing it all in an instant.

‘How did the accident happen?’

Jongdae shook his head. ‘That’s a tale for another time.’ He glanced at his tall friend, struggling to do the simplest of tricks. ‘Hey Sehun, getting the hang of it?’

The man puffed his cheeks. ‘No.’ He spotted Baekhyun and changed his demeanour. Their introductions were small. Baekhyun and Jongdae both tried to teach the man some skateboard tricks, but it only gave him a sore ass after the amount of times he tripped.

‘Maybe you should have Chanyeol help him. It seems his long legs are what is holding him back the most.’

Jongdae shrugged. ‘Or not, he already has his height going for him. Let us have some cool tricks to compensate, eh?’ They laughed.

When Baekhyun entered the tattoo parlour, he wasn’t sure if it was his presence that caused the sudden silence, or his freshly dyed hair. Jongdae was tattooing Junmyeon’s back. The man had a huge tattoo on his back, an angel with its wings covering part of his shoulders and upper arms.

‘Cool tattoo!’ Baekhyun exclaimed upon inspection. He wasn’t a fan of such huge pieces on himself, but it was an impressive artwork with the amount of details on it. The angel had intricate body armour as well as light beams around its body.

‘Thanks.’ Junmyeon said.

‘Wow Baekhyun, black hair, eh?’ Jongdae said, his eyebrows shot up.

‘I thought it was time for something new, I’m not sure if I’ll keep it though.’

Junmyeon glanced at him, then nodded. ‘It looks good on you, it makes you look a bit more mature.’

Baekhyun curtly bowed and went to grab a drink. The two were whispering among themselves, Baekhyun must have interrupted something when he entered. He returned and dragged a chair to join them in the booth. Jongdae welcomed him with a smile, he was already used to glancing over his shoulder when he was tattooing.

‘So what were you guys talking about before I barged in here?’ He gambled for answers.

They were both quiet for a moment, then Junmyeon spoke up. ‘We were talking about another meet-up with our… Friends.’

Jongdae snorted. ‘He already believes we are in a gang, might as well call them our gang.’ He directed his attention to Baekhyun. ‘We’re hanging out with the usual gang at the old abandoned warehouse in the other town. We go there, bring some drinks along, play with graffiti. Fun stuff! Want to join?’

‘When is it?’

‘After I’m done here.’

‘Oh, tonight already?’

‘Don’t worry, Baekhyun,’ Junmyeon chipped in, ‘the police has only showed up once or twice and we’ve been hanging out there for ages. You have nothing to worry about.’

Baekhyun mind blanked. That was not what he wanted to hear, but he did always wanted to try out graffiti. And his curiosity towards Jongdae had increased as they had gotten closer.

‘Come on, Baekkie. I promise you a good time, else I’ll bring you home if it’s not what you expected of it.’

Baekhyun remained quiet, and they didn’t ask about anymore until they finished up the tattoo and started to get ready.

‘So, what is it going to be?’ Jongdae asked, his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Junmyeon’s brows were drawn together as he put on his leather jacket.

‘Fine, I want to check it out.’

Jongdae patted his back, then rushed to the back room. He returned with a face mask and a black bomber jacket. ‘You’re dressed too obvious. Since the police raid the place sometimes, be light on your feet.’ He smiled as he gave the advice, but it didn’t soothe Baekhyun’s nerves in the slightest.

After the small wardrobe change, they drove off to the allocated area. It was a rundown warehouse, the finer work decayed with only the foundation of the building still holding it all upright. Weeds grew everywhere, several compartments of the building had broken down. It was the perfect place for street thugs, Baekhyun would admit that.

They were one of the first to arrive, except for the man Baekhyun had formally met a few days prior. Sehun recognized Baekhyun and enveloped him into a hug, as he did with the others. Later on Yifan and Kyungsoo arrived, as well as a few lesser known faces who would only sporadically be at the bar.

‘It’s too bad Yixing couldn’t be here, most of the actually presentable artwork are all his,’ Junmyeon said and pointed to some of the painted stone walls around the area. ‘This is mine!’ He later stated happily, pointing at a wonky text reading _Suho_. Jongdae laughed and showed him some of his work.

‘I’m not that good at painting with the spray cans, so I usually stick to paintbrushes. They’re a pain to bring with though.’ He handed Baekhyun a spray can and appointed him a part of the wall. It had minor drawings on them, none of them good.

Baekhyun didn’t even know what to paint. He glanced at the wall dumbly, long enough for Jongdae to chip in.

‘Don’t know what to paint? Let’s first start with writing a word, so you can get a feel for it.’ Jongdae stood next to him and guided his hand.

Within no time Baekhyun was spraying away with the joy of a 5-year-old. A liberating thing it was, who cared about it being pretty anyway? Precision was nearly impossible with a spray can, Jongdae had said, certainly for someone unaccustomed to its use.

Yifan joined them later with praises on his lips. ‘Wow, he is really quite good!’

The comment had the others laughing.

‘Everything looks good when you compare it with your work, Yifan,’ Junmyeon said. The man pouted in response and grabbed a spray can himself to prove them wrong. Two minutes later, Baekhyun understood their laughter by the crudely painted creature Yifan had concocted. He wasn’t sure if even Yifan knew what animal it was supposed to represent, despite his best intent. The man grumbled and walked off, entertaining everyone around him.

The rest of the evening was as good as the first part. After going through all of the paint they brought with, Baekhyun joined the rest of the group for drinks. There was a bonfire in the middle of the warehouse. Scattered around were improvised seats, like logs or old kegs and crates. Jongdae and Baekhyun sat huddled together on a tree trunk. It was already fall and cold wind had frozen Baekhyun’s fingers while he sprayed. He wouldn’t deny the tingles he felt when his hands laid in Jongdae’s, or when he glanced at Jongdae staring at the fire with glassy eyes.

Nobody was bothered by Baekhyun’s intrusion. He expected more sceptical glances, as to why Jongdae had brought a random stranger along, but they were welcoming and kind. They sat around for a little longer before Baekhyun’s eyes started to droop.

‘Want to go home?’ Jongdae asked, thumbing the back of Baekhyun’s hand.

Baekhyun nodded and glanced at him. His cheekbone was highlighted and the smooth curve of his jawline accentuated, while the fire cast a shadow on the other side of his face. Jongdae talked for him as they said their goodbyes. Baekhyun was once again surprised how everyone told him to join them again. He almost gotten shy from the sudden affection he was receiving.

‘You can keep the face mask… For next time.’ Jongdae told him when they arrived in front of Baekhyun’s house. He would hand in the leather jacket tomorrow, as he left his at Jongdae’s shop.

‘Thanks. I will.’ Their goodbye felt like one of a successful first date. A little awkward, but also exciting and hopeful for a new one. Baekhyun was looking forward towards the latter.

Another regional championship came around the corner as quickly as the days flew by. Despite his best efforts, Baekhyun didn’t qualify to advance. He had sort of expected it already. The last weeks of training had been rough on him, and during the competition he had found the competition more cutting than they used to. Zitao did qualify. Baekhyun swallowed his sadness, perhaps also a bit of pride, and put on a big smile.

‘Congratulations! He shouted and jumped along with him. The time spent abroad had done Zitao well, extremely well. He had dominated the scene in his hometown in China and was already creating a buzz around here too. Though having friends advance quicker than him was a double-edged sword, Baekhyun was genuinely happy and proud of him. Zitao lived for the sport, even more than Baekhyun had done. Accredited to his discipline and disheartening stubbornness, he had done what he had set out to do when he had first mentioned his goal to become a BMXer.

If anything, the success of his friend solidified his own desire too. He had to get better, he just had to work a little harder, and waste a little less time. He found himself in the surprisingly quiet practice ring. Most BMXers would continue to practice and play in the rings till the end of the day. Some would say it was like an afterparty, the most fun happened after the competition. Baekhyun never stuck around for that. Since he let the stress build in his body in the days before the competition, it’d often come out afterwards leaving him tired and sick.

He practiced for what seemed like only a minute, his body was already used to the torture he put it through with hourlong paddling on the bike and falling from dangerous stunts, when he caught sight of an onlooker. Jongdae was standing near the main entrance dressed up his usual leather attire and crude raggedy t-shirt, a beer in hand.

Baekhyun tried a few more tricks, finishing them smoothly, then cycled out of the ring.

‘Hey,’ Jongdae said when Baekhyun cycled up to him. He held out his beer. ‘Want one?’

Baekhyun accepted the bottle and sipped it, quickly returning it when he tasted the vile alcohol on his tongue.

‘Not your taste?’ Jongdae laughed and patted Baekhyun’s back. If he was bothered by the sweat that stuck to him, he didn’t show it.

‘Nope. What are you doing here?’

Jongdae shrugged. ‘I thought you might need a friend right now.’ He eluded to more, but spoke no words of it. Baekhyun had voiced his frustration over his stagnating growth before. He led Baekhyun to the stone benches.

‘I know you’re feeling pretty bad, so shall I tell you a story?’ Jongdae suggested when Baekhyun didn’t speak after they sat down. ‘Skateboarding used to be my life. I loved it so much, but the community was difficult for me to handle at first.’ Jongdae took a moment’s glance at him. ‘So, you know I’m gay, right?’

They had never spoken about it, but somewhere along the line Baekhyun started to get a hunch.

‘When I was skating, I felt like I could never really be myself. It was difficult, because you have all these sweaty guys without shirts skating around.’ He snorted. ‘They were accepting of me and we could joke about it, but I could never relate to anyone because I was the only gay guy. My other passion was motorcycles, at least, I loved seeing them. After my accident, I bought one to fill the void skateboarding left behind. I was afraid I’d be stuck in the same kind of world, bikers don’t have the best reputation after all, do they?’

It was a rhetorical question, but Baekhyun felt the hurt of it bleed through.

‘But luckily I quickly found likeminded people.’

‘Are those the people you hang out with now?’

‘Yes. Sehun, you know the guy that sucked so much at skateboarding? He was actually the first to set it up. He brought Junmyeon in. Yifan came in on his own account. Even though he is an ally, he brings a lot of new meat into the group. He keeps telling us it’s because he knows every person in the neighbourhood that owns a bike, but we all agree it’s the wifebeaters he wears at work that really draws them in.’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘That’s really cool. I’m glad you found your friends through that.’

Jongdae gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘Where I was going with this, is that it seems like you still have to find that group of friends, am I wrong?’

Baekhyun played with his shoes. Loneliness wasn’t something new to him. As he aged, he realized the damage youth trauma had on adulthood. It was not like he was necessarily bullied in the past, besides the occasional curses or items thrown at him on the street, but he never really fitted in. His only friend was Chanyeol back then, who had a knack for getting into trouble. When they grew a little older, and hotter, they started dating. His loneliness lessened when their friend group expanded with Jongin and some others who had gone their own ways soon after. He blinked back at Jongdae, realizing the man was still waiting for a reply.

‘Yeah… I’ve lost friends for my career, now I’ve gained friends because of it, but how quickly will I lose that again when I drop off the charts?’

‘What makes you think you’ll lose them?’

Baekhyun sighed. ‘That’s how life goes. Things change, people change. There are only a few people that actually stay in your life for a long time.’

Jongdae remained quiet after that. He was thinking, but about what Baekhyun couldn’t guess.


	5. Chapter 5

Jongdae went to the warehouse late in the evening. A storm was coming. Leaves rustled on the trees he passed and the road was littered with twigs torn from its branches.

‘Hey Jongdae, didn’t think you’d show up anymore.’ Junmyeon came over and hugged him before Jongdae could even get off his bike.

‘Yeah, I had a client who I changed my schedule for.’

Looking around the camp, only Yifan sat by the extinguished firepit, waving at Jongdae.

‘You just missed Kyungsoo. Yifan and I were just talking about our next trip.’

‘What’s the plan this time?’ Jongdae asked Yifan when they joined him on the makeshift benches surrounding the firepit.

Yifan ignored the question as he stared behind Jongdae. Before he could ask, Jongdae heard engines. For a split second he thought he’d left his own bike on.

‘Fuck, what are they doing here?’ Junmyeon and Yifan stood up simultaneously.

A group of four bikers approached, revving their engines and trailing the muddy ground around them. They recognized the motorcycles right away. Not that there were many others around, all those on bikes were either affiliated with a gang, or their own. They stopped around them. One of them took their helmet off, an older man with the only patch of hair on his face located on his chin. His bald head was covered in tattoos.

‘Not this asshole,’ Junmyeon muttered, having had havoc with the man before.

‘What do you want from us?’ Jongdae asked, trying his best to make his 1.7m height look intimidating. Times like these he appreciated having Yifan around, who despite not having any tattoos, still brought in the intimidating factor with his height and bushy, angled eyebrows.

The older man raised his two hands. ‘I mean no harm, babies, why you gotta be so uptight right away?’ It caused a stir of laughter with his friends. ‘I just want to make sure you’re home before the storm.’ The grin on his face said otherwise. The other three got off their bikes and inched closer too.

‘Cut the crap, why are you all so hellbent on fighting us?’ Junmyeon yelled. He stepped backwards and his elbow bumped against Jongdae’s.

‘Well you see, we have a bit of an image to uphold. You can say, we built quite a reputation around here, and we don’t want a bunch of snotty kids ruining that for us,’ one of the others said, another broad looking old guy with distinguishable tattoos around what little skin he was showing. Only one without a responsible job could rock hand tattoos without losing their livelihood in this neighbourhood, so Jongdae could only guess what this guy did to keep himself financially secure while owning one of the newest Harveys out there.

‘Come on, we don’t interfere with that. We’re just friends meeting every once in a while.’ While Jongdae appreciated Yifan’s friendly approach to avoid an assbeating, the visible tension on Junmyeon’s face showed he wasn’t. Yifan took a step and stood eye to eye with the first geezer. ‘So why not let us do our thing and we’ll let you do your thing?’

The man didn’t back down and leaned in, while Yifan kept his head stiff with only his eyes cast down to the slighter smaller man. A ‘thunk’ came from behind Jongdae and Junmyeon met fists with another biker, the latter having struck out. Everyone sprang into action, with the other two charging Jongdae and Junmyeon. The first one came at Jongdae with his fist out. Jongdae dodged it and struck him at the shoulder that obstructed his blow from hitting the face. A punch from the back almost stole his attention away before another punch hit him. Knuckles barely scraped by his jaw. Jongdae hit the man with a swift punch to the stomach and reached to grab him. The person behind him stomped Jongdae at the back of the head and he saw black for a moment.

‘Jongdae!’ Junmyeon scream was loud in his ear and no second punch would meet skin. He swung his fists blindly and landed a successful hit, drawing a curse from his victim. Not Junmyeon’s voice, thank the gods. His vision returned and he took in the situation they were in. Yifan was still fighting the old man Jongdae assumed was some sort of captain of the team, another guy behind him but not really lashing out. Junmyeon was right beside Jongdae, being the more skilled fighter between the two, fending off punches for both of them. With the onslaught of fists, neither had a shot of hitting back.

‘You punch pretty well for a bunch of faggots,’ one of them said and uppercut Junmyeon. Blood spewed out of his mouth and he cursed as he recoiled. Jongdae stepped in but took another blunt of a blow. His vision went black again and the slight hint of iron took over his scent as he lost consciousness.

The gritty texture of sand in his mouth was the first thing Jongdae noticed when he regained consciousness, then the cold wetness of his face and body. Dull sounds arose from around him. His friends were still fighting. He stumbled to his knees but the splitting headache prevented him from rising up entirely. The cold soil soaked the fabric of his pants while he took in the scene. It was one on one now with two bikers having left. Jongdae and his friends’ bikes were thrashed. Junmyeon pulled through with a ferocious kick that sent his assailant flying. The other caught notice and they scrambled away.

Yifan came over to Jongdae. He reached his hand out for Jongdae but then dropped himself on the ground next to him.

‘Are you all okay?’ Junmyeon asked and walked over to them. His lip was bleeding and his hair was dishevelled like Yifan’s was. He leaned down in front of Jongdae. ‘You’re not looking so good, Jongdae.’

‘Neither do you,’ he replied, ‘I can’t believe they had the guts to corner us like this.’ He couldn’t help but think about the last words he heard before he fell unconscious. ‘Do you think they target us specifically because of our sexuality?’

‘Among other reasons, yeah. You know how it has been in this town, old farts still live in the 1900s with their nuclear family delusions.’ Junmyeon spat out blood.

They were all silent as Junmyeon and Jongdae cleaned themselves up to the best of their abilities, while Yifan hid his face behind his folded knees.

‘You know… One of these guys,’ Junmyeon whispered, ‘he said something weird. I haven’t told you this before,

After Junmyeon blew off his steam, he turned to his bike. Jongdae reached out to Yifan, who had been quiet this whole time now.

With a tap on his shoulder, he got Yifan to raise his head.

‘What’s on your mind?’

Yifan bit his lip. ‘I have never been in a fight.’ His voice was quavering, and only now did Jongdae see him visibly shaken from the ordeal.

Jongdae laid his arm on his shoulder.

‘I feel sorry, I never understood the situation fully. I’ve had hourlong discussions with Junmyeon about this…’

The next weekend came by. He knocked on the big door of his friends’ mansion. It was Luhan who opened.

‘Jeez what the hell, Jongdae?’ He pulled him in and placed his hand on Jongdae’s cheek. ‘What happened?’

His jaw had bruised up significantly from the beating a few days ago, discoloured dirty purple and green.

‘Let’s talk about it inside.’

Luhan hugged him before drawing him into the hallway. They exchanged pleasantries while Luhan boiled some tea for themselves, then moved to the living room with their drinks and an American sized cookie.

‘So…?’ Luhan asked.

Jongdae sighed. He had mostly been quiet about the assaults happening towards him and his fellow biker friends, except for the time he had bruises on his face which were too painful to cover up.

‘Stuff happened, as you can see… And yesterday something happened again. Junmyeon and I were coming back from the bar when we saw their headlights behind us. They chased us for what seemed like at least 20 minutes. Luckily Junmyeon and I used the headsets in our helmets to discuss what to do.’ They’d been taking detours around the area to shake them off before returning home. Never had they been so persistent with their pursuit before. When they finally did lose them and could ride to Jongdae’s home unscathed, they’d rushed inside and spent the rest of the evening shaken up.

Luhan frowned.

‘I’m just so tired of these people bothering us. We’re not doing anyone wrong, they’re just trying to bully us off the streets.’

‘Yeah…’ Luhan trailed his words. They were interrupted by Minseok making his way into the living room. He jumped on the couch from behind it, but shot off it again when he saw Jongdae.

‘Jongdae, what happened?’ He reached out and Jongdae placed his face in his palm. Jongdae couldn’t help but smile. Luhan filled him in while his boyfriend was half on his lap to inspect Jongdae’s bruises.

‘I cannot believe they’d do that. And the police is not helping either?’

Jongdae shrugged. ‘I think they have some strings pulled at the local police station, so they never get the punishment they need.’

‘So one of the issues is what the police is actually doing about it?’

‘Yeah, I bet they burn all the records we make of it. At some point Junmyeon was there every week with fresh bruises, and they still didn’t take him serious.’

Luhan and Minseok exchanged glances. Then, Minseok turned to both. ‘Let’s make dinner.’

***

Jongdae invited Baekhyun over to join them to the warehouse again. The good experience he had last time made him accept the invitation. He was eager to have another try with graffiti. Before that, he trained at the skate hall. His training was going well and he started to see slow progress again.

Zitao stopped him when he got off him bike for a break.

‘Hey, can we talk?’ He said. Baekhyun nodded and the man brought him to a secluded corner of the ring.

‘What’s on your mind?’

‘I… I’ll be returning to my hometown in China again.’

‘That’s great! Right?’

‘Yeah, yeah it is!’ Zitao didn’t seem convinced of his own words.

‘Then, what’s the problem?’

‘There is none. I just wanted to say… Goodbye. I don’t know when we’ll see each other again.’

Baekhyun scoffed. ‘We’ll see each other again! Don’t be so dramatic. I know it might not look like I’m improving, but I’ll meet you at the top one day!’

Zitao gave a weak smile. ‘Of course.’ They hugged and they wished each other well. Zitao left afterwards.

‘If there’s something, you know where to find me.’ Baekhyun had the words on his lips, but he mumbled them inaudibly to the other.

His mind was scattered the rest of the day. Chanyeol came to the hall later, but he hadn’t heard anything from Zitao.

‘What, he’s leaving again? He’s probably following those friends you keep complaining about.’

‘Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t think they’re good people.’

Chanyeol sneered. ‘They’re not, saw them using some illegal shit in some parking lot the other day, and Zitao has been acting weird lately too. I hope he’ll be alright.’

Baekhyun didn’t have the heart to tell Chanyeol he too was getting on the wrong side of life. Surely, spray painting was not really equated to illegal drug use, but with Baekhyun’s condemnation of anything beside the law, Chanyeol would not let him live this down.

Baekhyun trained the rest of the day, then rushed home to shower. Jongdae picked him up from home.

They were there when dusk fell. There were more people scattered around. The weather was decent so most were outside on the terrain riding with their motorcycles. Baekhyun and Jongdae were the only two spray painting, though it was mainly Baekhyun working. Jongdae just laughed at the creations Baekhyun made and would make little adjustments. The artist in him couldn’t resist a touch up.

‘So like, all of these people are gay?’

‘Well, lgbt+ at least. Why, seeing someone you like?’

Jongdae wasn’t looking at him, he was fixing one of Baekhyun’s poor attempts at drawing a frog. His eyebrows were knitted together, they usually were when he was tattooing someone, even with something so mundane he had his entire focus on it. Maybe there was someone he did enjoy looking at.

‘Hmm?’ Jongdae drew his eyes away from the painting, looking expectantly towards the BMXer.

The moment was interrupted when they heard shouting coming from one of the smaller groups near the entrance of the building.

‘Fuck, the cops-‘ Before Baekhyun could register the severity of the situation, Jongdae dragged him along to another exit. Yifan and Junmyeon were running in front of them, with Junmyeon taking the lead and pointing where to go. They split ways with them when they ran into the forest, while Jongdae took Baekhyun to the urban outskirts instead.

‘We gotta split here. Run straight that way and then make a right turn. Just keep on running and you’ll find the bus stop eventually.’ Jongdae said, heaving. Baekhyun’s lungs burnt too much to reply. ‘GO!’ Jongdae yelled as he shoved him forward. Baekhyun let his legs carry him far away, not looking back at the other man.

He passed alley to alley, unbeknownst to where he went. Dead end, fuck. Another he cut into was leading him nowhere. He turned around and stumbled upon the main street.

‘Stop right there.’ the voice of a man rang out behind him. It was over. The man lunged for him and threw him on the ground. Before he could comprehend the situation, his wrists were cuffed and he was arrested. The man hardhandedly pushed him back to where the police cars were situated. He obeyed as well as he could, keeping his mouth shut as the police officer put him in the back of the car. In the quiet car, he felt the adrenaline still rushing through his veins, making him jumpy and hypersensitive to the world around him. It was unlike how he felt in the ring, the lurking threat of the consequences fed his mind fear. He had never been arrested before so he had no clue what they’d do to him, but he wasn’t eager to confront the court for his vandalism act. He controlled his nerves as well as he could, rubbing his shaking hands together behind his back.

The police squad spent another ten minutes scouting the area. Baekhyun had been the first, and seemingly the last, to get caught. The others had more practice in this than Baekhyun had after all. Eventually he spotted another man getting dragged to the police car he sat in. It was Jongdae. The man laughed even as they manhandled him. With a shove he joined Baekhyun at the backseat.

‘Hey, you also here?’ He joked. Upon seeing Baekhyun shiver, he frowned and sat a little closer. ‘Are you okay? Don’t worry too much, you didn’t do anything. You just watched, okay?’ His cuffed hands were on Baekhyun’s jeans, playing with the distressed fabric. Jongdae easily chatted with the officers, as they joked about their arrest and what trouble they were to the police.

At the police station, they were both interrogated separately. Baekhyun answered the questions truthfully, but even then his palms were sweating and his words tumbled out of his mouth. For bad behaviour and trespassing, Jongdae and he were both detained for the night. The police officer patted Baekhyun’s back when she opened the jail cell to let him in. ‘Just don’t do it again, kid. You’ll be alright.’

Jongdae waited for him with a disarming smile, perked up on the bench.

‘Everything okay?’ He rubbed circles on Baekhyun’s back.

‘I don’t ever want to be a bad boy again.’

Jongdae chuckled and rested his head on his shoulder. ‘That’s a shame.’ He had taken all the blame during the interrogation, but it only resulted in a slightly higher fine for him. The police officers were familiar with him, some greeting him from the other side of the bars like they were welcoming back a friend.

That night in prison, they laid in each other’s arms on the harsh bench, Baekhyun’s head snug against Jongdae’s chest.

‘I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I’m sorry I got you into such a situation.’ Jongdae spoke after a while.

Baekhyun rubbed his arm. ‘I agreed to it, didn’t I?’ His voice was muffled against the fabric of Jongdae’s shirt.

‘You did, but I promised I’d keep you safe. I shouldn’t have sent you off to another direction. I assumed you’d know your way, but that was stupid of me.’ He raked his hands through Baekhyun’s hair, massaging his scalp gently.

‘I’m not a baby, I can take my own responsibility. But,’ he nosed into Jongdae’s chest for good measures, ‘I was kind of glad when I saw you get dragged into the car. I wouldn’t want to lie here alone right now.’

Jongdae snickered, its impact vibrating his chest.

‘It was actually kind of exhilarating. The rush of fleeing, the fear of being caught and actually getting caught. I understand why you’re a bad boy now!’ Baekhyun jested. In all truth, he was just happy Jongdae included him into his friend group and showed him new things. His anxiety from before had subdued. Jongdae eluded such confidence and compliance with the situation, it was difficult to maintain the emotional peaks his mind was going through before. He thought he should have been angry for being led into this situation. The soothing rhythm of Jongdae’s heartbeat, completely at ease, and his hand going through Baekhyun’s hair made it really easy to forgive. Cuddled up, they shared their feelings on tonight’s events and giggled over the dramatic retelling of either stories. Jongdae had returned to the scene after he saw Baekhyun get caught.

‘Where were you then?’

‘I climbed on a roof, there is this perfect hiding spot near the site.’

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and tittered. What a situation did he get himself into, and who would have expected him to end up in a prison cell…

They were sent home the next morning at 8 am. Their joints cracked from the rough surface they slept on, and both were not morning people.

‘Let’s get a coffee nearby, I need it.’ Jongdae offered to buy them some, to make up for what he put Baekhyun through. They went to the nearest café on foot, as Jongdae’s vehicle was confiscated like all the other motor bikes that were at the site yesterday. Baekhyun picked a hot chocolate and a muffin. He stuck out his tongue, causing the other to snort.

‘You’re so ridiculous, Baek,’ he said with a fond smile.

They sat is content silence. There was a familiar song playing in the shop and Baekhyun hummed along.

‘So, how often are you actually there? Why do half of the staff know you there already?’ Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae shrugged. ‘I’ve been there a few times. Different circumstances sometimes, but I seem to have a knack of getting myself in trouble. They like me well enough though. They cannot let me out early, but they’ll come and chat with me. It’s boring when you’re alone…’ He bit his lips. ‘I’m glad this time I wasn’t.’

‘You’re weird.’ Baekhyun rolled his eyes, his cheeks slightly tinting. ‘Okay wait I have another question.’

‘Go ahead.’

‘How do you afford your motorcycle? If these things happen more often and your bike get confiscated all the time…’

Jongdae grinned. ‘They bring them to a compound afterwards where you can purchase them back for a cheap price if you have the right papers. It’s a bigger drag when those bikers from that gang put their hands on them.’ He sipped his drink. ‘Also, I earn enough and my fixed costs are low due to cheap rent prices. How about you, how do you afford training every day?’

‘I don’t… I still live at home. The price I won for the tournaments I scored well on are not exactly like winning the jackpot.’ It was something that was bothering Baekhyun.

They spent an hour in the café until Jongdae glanced at the time and realized he still had a shop to run at noon. At the exit they lingered, suddenly uncertain how to say goodbye. Baekhyun initiated a hug, reciprocated by Jongdae. Jongdae retracted slightly, pecking Baekhyun on the cheek for a brief second.

‘See you around,’ he said in a low voice. Baekhyun was suddenly glad he turned around right after, feeling his cheeks burn up.

Baekhyun made peace with his ‘wild’ adventure and retold it for his friends at the bar the next day. He was met with the silent judgement of Jongin, while Chanyeol showed a different expression at every turn of the tale Baekhyun was telling, with cliff-hangers and hooks that hyped up the story more than it should have.

‘Oh this is just great. Baekkie goodie two shoes has been lecturing my ass about hanging out with the bikers, yet here he is causing trouble himself!’ Chanyeol exclaimed to Jongin. Jongin rolled his eyes, but his gaze softened when he looked at Baekhyun.

‘I’m just happy everything went okay.’

‘Thank you for worrying, Jongin, and also, sorry. I’ll be more careful next time.’

‘So you are going to do it again?’

While he hadn’t thought about it so thoroughly, his lack of an answer made it known. Chanyeol grinned at him, he must know too.

The days leading up to the competition, Baekhyun went back into his usual routine of training, eating and sleeping. Occasionally he would go to the bar and chat with his friends, where he would run into Jongdae and talk to him at the counter, feeling a pit of warmth in his stomach as the other smiled at him and brushed his fingers over his arm.

‘Haven’t seen you in a while, are you doing alright?’ Jongdae asked with his head snug on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun patted his head in response, enjoying the familiarity they’ve created.

‘I’m doing okay, training hard.’

‘Such great discipline. When you have more time, come hang out in the shop again.’ Jongdae lifted his head and rubbed Baekhyun back while he ordered drinks for his table. ‘I miss you!’

Baekhyun glanced at him dumbly. A sudden spike of regret pierced his heart. How much did he actually miss his friends and his freedom when he was mindlessly focused on training?

‘You okay?’

Baekhyun shook his head. ‘Yeah. Just some thoughts.’

‘Don’t think too hard, you’re producing more smoke than my motor does.’ Jongdae patted his shoulder and took his leave with the tray of drinks he had received.

‘Your mind is just messing with you, Baek. You’re doing great, don’t worry so much.’ Chanyeol repeatedly told him. His words rang true at the next competition where he came first. With the noise of the crowd and the small trophy pushed in his hand, Baekhyun felt numb. It didn’t fade until he sat back in Chanyeol’s car, a sadness welling up on him.

‘What’s wrong?’ Chanyeol asked, leaning in to cup Baekhyun’s cheek. It was an awfully familiar gesture. He always did that when Baekhyun was sad while they were still dating.

Baekhyun glanced out of the front window, avoiding eye contact. ‘I just don’t know.’ He choked up as he admitted it. ‘I have so many doubts. Why do I even do this? It’s not even enjoyable anymore.’

Chanyeol retracted his hand. ‘Isn’t it the thrill of taking a high jump? Acing something you’ve practiced for so long? Falling and putting band aids on scraped knees, then laugh with your friends and do the same stupid shit all over again?’

‘I…’ They had this conversation before, except now Chanyeol was using Baekhyun’s own words against him.

‘You know why you’re doing this, Baekhyun. This is your life, this is what you want to do.’

‘Can’t I doubt that decision?!’

‘You broke up with me because of this.’ Chanyeol spat.

‘Well do you want me to give it up and start sucking your dick again?! ‘Cause I have half a mind to do it.’ Baekhyun hissed back.

Chanyeol sneered and faced the window. ‘Fuck off.’

Baekhyun leaned his head against the headrest, glancing at the off-white rooftop. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just so agitated these days.’ He swallowed and glanced at Chanyeol. ‘You don’t-, I mean, we… Are nothing, right?’

‘Yeah. We’re better off as friends. Just…’ Chanyeol reached out and placed his hand on Baekhyun’s knee. ‘Don’t tell me that stuff anymore.’

Baekhyun nodded. It was fair for Chanyeol to distance himself, with the rift between them caused by the unwillingness to accept change from Baekhyun’s part. Baekhyun had this fantasy of becoming a top BMXer with Chanyeol right beside him. When the latter branched out into other hobbies, abandoning his bicycle almost entirely, Baekhyun couldn’t find happiness in their relationship anymore. This ordeal made Baekhyun realize Chanyeol’s feelings back then, and here Baekhyun was spitting it back at him with his own mistakes.

‘I’m really sorry.’

Chanyeol had a humourless half smile on his face. The ride home was filled with only R&B tunes coming from the radio of the car.

With knees and elbows bloodied, even with protective gear on, Baekhyun returned home after dusk. His body felt as broken as his mind did. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep on the bed after he showered and brushed his teeth. The next morning, Baekhyun turned off his alarm and turned around again. All he wanted to do was sleep and hide from the world for a day. Another few hours later he reached for his phone. It was noon. Begrudged he stood up and stretched the knots out of his body. His knees hurt as he walked down the stairs to the kitchen. With breakfast over, he returned to his room and watched movies for the rest of the day. The day was already at its end when Baekhyun’s phone went off. A text from Jongdae appeared on the lock screen, a simple ‘hey, how’re you?’

Baekhyun placed his phone in front of him and hit the voice note button. With a sigh he rambled on how he hadn’t done anything, but if Jongdae was interested he could rant about the terrible movie he had mistakenly picked.

Jongdae returned with a voice note as well, his loud chuckle booming through the device. Even if Jongdae didn’t know the severity of his grumpy mood, he had some magic spell that pulled Baekhyun out of his slump.

‘Hey Jongdae. Can I ride your bike some day? I wanna try.’

‘Sure, but it’s better to do it at night to avoid traffic.’

‘Now?’ Baekhyun suggested. He tapped his screen as the minutes passed by.

‘Okay, I’ll be there in 10!’ Jongdae’s voice pitched in the voice note sent 5 minutes later.

Baekhyun rushed to his closet. He plucked out sturdy pants and a thick jacket. As soon as he rushed downstairs, a headlight passed the kitchen window. He went outside and watched Jongdae take off his helmet.

‘Hey,’ Jongdae said. There was some tension in the air, but Baekhyun couldn’t place what it was from. Jongdae passed him a helmet, which made Baekhyun realize he had spent what little time he had before Jongdae arrived in vain trying to get rid of his bed hair.

Jongdae drove them to an empty parking lot. Only one street lamp was on, another one blinked every once in a while. He hopped off the bike and gestured to Baekhyun to take a seat.

‘It’s really not that difficult. The right handlebar you use to speed up, the brake lever is for the front wheel.’ Jongdae continued to explain the rest, telling him all the small details about the vehicle and what to pay attention to while driving. ‘Give it a try!’

Baekhyun turned the handlebar backwards, the bike inching forward as the engine revved up. Even at such low speed, Baekhyun’s adrenaline shot up. Not so much for his own safety as for the bike, he had no clue how Jongdae would react if he damaged it. Baekhyun drove a wide circle around the parking lot and returned to Jongdae, sputtered to a halt as he forgot to release the gas while he braked.

Jongdae chuckled and held onto the bike.

‘Come on, you can go a little faster than that!’ Jongdae encouraged. He shooed Baekhyun away, so the latter went for a few rounds at higher speed. His heart was beating in his throat and his face wore a smile he couldn’t suppress. Good thing he wore a helmet. When he returned again, Jongdae was smiling too.

‘You’re doing great. How do you like it?’

‘It’s so cool! I can see why you like it so much.’

Jongdae put his own helmet on. ‘Ready to take on the big road?’

‘What?’ Baekhyun asked. Jongdae fit himself on the driver’s seat behind Baekhyun, placing his legs on either side of Baekhyun and leaned his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

‘A motorbike is meant for speed after all. Dare to go on the main road?’ Jongdae said.

‘Is that even legal? Do you trust me with that?’ Baekhyun asked incredulously. Jongdae shrugged.

‘I can intervene if something happens, don’t worry about it.’

With a green light and Jongdae snug behind him, Baekhyun twisted the handlebar like he had seen Jongdae do before. They shot forward. His vision was partially obscured with the huge helmet he was wearing, making it a pain to look both ways before crossing. Jongdae pointed to the mirrors. Right, he should be using those.

It was past midnight already on a weekday, so cars were only sporadically sharing the road with them. Jongdae was helping him with the blinkers and shifting, which Baekhyun was grateful for because he had never even driven a car and had no clue what he should be paying attention to. They turned onto the highway. Jongdae placed his hand over Baekhyun’s hand and pulled the handle bar, surging them forward. The meter shot up to 130 km per hour and Baekhyun scoffed at the thought he had been nervous while riding in the parking lot. The adrenaline filled him with joy and he felt a freedom he hadn’t experienced in so long. Even with the wind tearing against him and the engine soaring as he pushed it to its limits, Baekhyun swore he heard Jongdae’s laughter next to him. He had his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder, his hands came to clasp tightly around Baekhyun’s waist. It offered some warmth too, a little bit of protection from the force of air going through his clothes and causing shivers down his spine.

After enough kilometres, Jongdae signed to get off the highway and eventually led them to a provincial road. He had taken control of the handlebars, so Baekhyun held himself tight on Jongdae’s upper legs.

‘Where are you taking us?’ Baekhyun tried to communicate, but the other either didn’t hear it or chose not to. He didn’t have to wait long for an answer, as the motorcycle soon came to a stop at the side of a small road, bordering a forest on one side with a lake on the other. The near full moon spread a dim glow on the water, peaking just over the vast woods.

Baekhyun stepped off the bike and took his helmet off. Laughter bubbled up from feelings of exhilaration and joy. The engine was turned off by Jongdae, his chuckles now hearable after he removed his helmet too.

‘What do you think?’ Jongdae asked.

‘That was so cool.’ Baekhyun exclaimed. Jongdae came to stand next to him, but Baekhyun swept him into a hug. Jongdae laughed, his mouth so close to Baekhyun’s ear that the sounds vibrated through his ear shell. With their chests pressed against each other, Baekhyun could feel his own heartbeat pounding in his ribcage. The feeling of being alive, he thought, like he was feeling everything at once. Baekhyun turned his face to Jongdae and kissed him.

Jongdae leaned into the kiss and deepened it. When they retracted, Jongdae gazed at him, expression unreadable.

‘Well that was… Something,’ Baekhyun said. He’d almost be afraid for his heart at this point for the work he was putting it through. He distanced himself and glanced at the wallowing waterbeds.

‘It was.’ Jongdae walked past him towards the water. He sat down on the grass before it, turning his head backwards and holding out his hand. Baekhyun accepted it and sat down next to him, his hand now kept warm between the palms of Jongdae’s hands.

‘Want to talk about it?’ Jongdae said.

‘I’m not good at talking.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘You’re a chatterbox all the time, yet you chose now to be shy?’

Baekhyun huffed. Jongdae ate up his act. He certainly loved to laugh, why was he always smiling.

‘I like you, Baekhyun. I like you a lot.’ It was straightforward. Genuine. Baekhyun had to look away from the man that faced him with glimmering eyes.

‘I think I like you too.’

‘Then why are you not looking at me?’ Two fingers tapped Baekhyun’s jaw and he let them turn his head towards the biker. Jongdae leaned in and kissed Baekhyun, a small peck on his lips. He cocked his head, watching Baekhyun with curled lips and big eyes. He was so attractive. Baekhyun returned the kiss. They kissed languidly, for what seemed like minutes at end. Jongdae’s hand had found roots at the crook of Baekhyun’s neck, his thumb brushing against his cheek so softly it tingled. Baekhyun leaned over on Jongdae, his body more on Jongdae than on the damp grass beneath them.

When they broke apart, breaths ragged and his cheeks were too unnaturally warm in the cold night’s air, Baekhyun gave one last peck before standing. He held out his hand for Jongdae and helped him up.

‘We should probably go home, don’t you have work tomorrow?’

‘I do,’ Jongdae replied sheepishly as he patted down his pants. Jongdae drove Baekhyun home. They didn’t say anything about what had all went down not 30 minutes ago, but the kiss goodbye sealed their insecurities away. Baekhyun might not have known what they were, but at this point it didn’t matter much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and giving kudos <3 next chapter will be steamier!


	6. Chapter 6

At the hide out it was quiet. It had been raining all day so not many had wanted to venture outside. Jongdae was the first to arrive at their hide out, driving into the empty building on his motorcycle. He wasn’t surprised, but he hoped at least one person would show up. The usual campfire wouldn’t be a great idea now, so instead he settled with an old worker’s lamp they had found lying around a few weeks back. Sitting down on the concrete pipe, he listened to the rain echoing through the empty lot. It was so much more noticeable without the endless noises his friends and their respective bikes would make. It also didn’t help that any door or window that was once installed onto the building had been destroyed, stolen or deteriorated. For a change, it was a pleasant experience. He closed his eyes and hummed quietly.

His peace of mind was disturbed by the tell-tale sound of a motorcycle. A first instinct was to brace himself for the off chance it’d be someone malicious as the person rode into the warehouse, headlights blinding Jongdae. The person parked his motorbike in front of Jongdae and took off his helmet.

‘Hey loner,’ Kyungsoo grinned. He turned off the engine, returning the tranquillity that was momentarily lost.

‘I didn’t think you’d show up today.’ Jongdae leaned back, his muscles releasing the tension they had held for those minutes.

‘Why not?’

‘It’s raining and Yifan isn’t here to give you a ride in his car.’

‘You’re right, I wouldn’t have been here.’

‘But you are…?’ Jongdae’s chuckle boomed through the cold air. Jongdae could only predict the evening was going to be a weird one.

Kyungsoo pulled something out of his pocket and threw it to Jongdae, who had been unprepared to catch the object thrown at him.

‘A key?’ He observed, but couldn’t connect the dots.

‘Some of the gang members are out drinking. I saw one of them didn’t lock their bike… Want to go steal it?’

Jongdae jumped up. ‘You want to go steal a fucking bike? They’ll have our heads if they find out.’

Kyungsoo shrugged. ‘Everyone keeps saying we have to do something, but nobody undertakes any action. Let them sweat a little bit, at least. Plus it’s the newest Harley Davidson, chrome. Don’t you want to give it a spin?’ Kyungsoo arched his eyebrow.

‘Well, you make a convincing argument…’ He knew exactly how to win over Jongdae.

They corroborated a plan before they took off on Kyungsoo’s bike, Jongdae being the one driving it back to their hiding place with Kyungsoo on the stolen bike.

The rain hadn’t lessened in the ten minutes it took them to the allocated bar. The audio of their connected headsets was rustling. Jongdae suspected one of their helmets having water damage. Kyungsoo drove his bike until the end of the street, a good 100 meters away, worrying the engine would cause the motorcyclists inside the pub to be more alert. If they were expecting friends and one would go outside to greet them, that could end very badly.

Kyungsoo got off the bike and let Jongdae take the wheel. He kept his helmet on while he walked to the bike. It were mere moments that Jongdae held his breath.

‘They’re so loud inside, I doubt they’d hear us even if we started screaming.’ Kyungsoo’s muffled voice rang through the headset.

‘Let’s not try it out and hurry.’

Kyungsoo scoffed. He sat down on the bike and started the motor. Slowly going backwards to wheel the bike out from between the others. Jongdae drove up to him and they quickly drove off. The bike was certainly powerful, as Kyungsoo accelerated and left Jongdae to eat dust.

‘Damn, do you hear that? This thing is the holy grail of modern tech,’ Kyungsoo said.

Jongdae caught up with him and they hit the highway. They took turn racing each other on the Harley, dodging the few cars that were cautiously driving in the hazardous weather. Jongdae’s ears rang from how much Kyungsoo was laughing, but he figured Kyungsoo was dealing with the same thing. He couldn’t contain his smile, the utter freedom of riding, the adrenaline of their criminal activity feeding his stomach the butterflies he couldn’t expel. 

‘I think we better head back now, lest they get suspicious.’ Kyungsoo suggested. He had driven them in a big circle around town, but was opting for the exit now.

‘You’re right.’ Jongdae tailed him. He had expected him to return to the crime scene, but instead, they rode to their hide-out. He stopped in front of a 20feet container. ‘You’ve had this all planned, didn’t you?’ Jongdae asked in wonder.

‘Yup. We unhinged the old lock on this thing a few days ago. Bought a new one that would keep out any intruders. Let’s keep the bike in for a while, and if they’re nice, we’ll return it someday, eh?’

Jongdae agreed. They rode it into the container and locked it up. Back in the warehouse, the weight of the soaked leather on his skin weighed in on him.

‘That was fun, wasn’t it?’

‘You’re right. I’m feeling so naughty.’

‘I’m sure the leather sticking to you ain’t helping either. I’d love to hang out more, but we’ll get sick if we sit in a cold and damp warehouse for another hour.’

‘Aww, and here I was wanting to have some quality time with my favourite person.’ Jongdae joked. He was more than ready to take a warm shower and huddle up in his bed.

‘Don’t tell this to anyone else, okay? You know they’ll be a bitch about it.’

Jongdae nodded. It wouldn’t make much of a difference, nowadays everyone was more involved in their own thing. They each went their own way, speaking into the headset for small talk until they got out of reach and the connection was lost.

At night Jongdae tossed and turned. He didn’t regret stealing the bike, he was just filled with anger. He thought back about the first time he was at mercy by the gang.

_He had been riding home from his apprentice job at the tattoo shop in the town nearby. The street he rode on was a few miles long, without light since it had long been abandoned for fixing by the local government. Darkness shrouded him till he saw a light source up ahead. He had never seen it there before, so his initial thought was a car must have broken down. He lowered his speed to see whether they’d need help, instead, he found that the motor gang had trapped him. Within a minute they were screaming and taking wheel. Jongdae sped up to get away, but to no avail. Before he reached the next town’s red lights, headlights appeared in front of him. He was circled in, eventually being forced to stop._

_‘What do you want?!’ He yelled, the sound muffled by his helmet. He remained ready to take off, but with their bikes blocking any way out, it was useless._

_‘Let’s have a talk.’ One of the men proposed, the first one to take off his helm and opened his palms._

_‘The fuck you want from me? Clear the road.’ Jongdae bit his tongue to prevent a string of curses to roll out._

_‘C’mon, don’t be like that,’ the same man said._

_A kick against Jongdae’s motorbike caused him to fall, the heavy machine landing on one of his legs. Panic rose in him, the weight of the bike keeping him trapped on the ground. He scrambled to free himself, before the men came in close and started kicking the shit out of him. Everything was a blur except for the pain that shot through his body. He thanked his helmet for protecting his head, and for the men to only kick his chest and back, rather than his legs. Curled up as much as he could to prevent damage to his vulnerable parts did not stop the men from pulling him apart like thirsty animals. Tears filled his eyes as he heard the men laugh and cheer among each other._

The humiliation and the senseless act of violence stuck with him all those years, fuelled by new beatings along the way.

\--

Baekhyun entered the tattoo parlour another evening, causing silence from the other two there.

‘What are you dragging your feet for?’ Junmyeon asked. He was in the familiar black leather chair, once again shirtless. Jongdae was drawing out a design on his chest.

‘Just tired,’ Baekhyun replied and pulled a stool with him to sit with the two. ‘What are you getting?’

‘It’s another angel…’ the drawings were crude and it took Baekhyun a moment to realize where the angel’s wings and limbs started and ended. He figured the angel was on its knees praying, its wings collapsed around it.

‘Quite… A piece.’

‘It’s not all, there will be some markings around it to make the shapes align in a half circle, you can check the drawing on the table.’ Jongdae gestured towards the drawing table.

‘It’s okay, I’ll see when it’s finished.’

It was a calm evening, nobody really talked much after Junmyeon explained his love for angels to Baekhyun. There wasn’t much behind it, he just liked the idea and visualization of them. Jongdae was focusing on the tattoo, Junmyeon was doing something on his phone. The music was only playing softly in the background. Junmyeon occasionally sang along, prompting Jongdae to join too. Baekhyun would walk around the room, picking up some more artbooks to look through.

‘Okay, let’s take a break.’ Jongdae placed the tattoo gun down and stretched his arms, his back releasing a small pop as he did. When Baekhyun passed, he slung an arm around him casually as they walked to the break room.

‘You look a little tired.’

‘I am.’

‘Training?’

‘Training.’ Baekhyun grabbed three bottles of iced tea and threw two to his friends. ‘I’ve been in such a slum lately. I train hard, but I don’t see the improvement I want. It feels like I’m stuck at this level, have I reached the ceiling?’

Jongdae scoffed. ‘Surely not. I think you’re being too hard on yourself.’

‘I’m not. I just want to be better, the next competition is soon approaching, just two more months and if I don’t do something wild, I’ll fall off the charts.’

‘Haven’t you said that before? Where is the motivation you had a few months ago?’

‘I don’t know…’ Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek. He returned to the drawing desk and pulled up one of Jongdae’s artbooks. This one was Baekhyun’s favourite, it had all the best pieces in it.

‘Shall I ask Minseok if you can train with him sometimes?’

Baekhyun shrugged. He had thought about it before, but he didn’t want to disturb him. ‘He’s too busy, can’t let a mediocre rider like me ruin his training time.’

Jongdae frowned. ‘Don’t talk like that about yourself. I’ll get him to contact you, okay?’

They cut their conversation short when Junmyeon came back into the room. He raised an eyebrow. ‘Everything okay here?’

‘Yeah, no worries,’ Baekhyun and Jongdae said in unison. They returned to the chair and continued the tattoo work.

‘When was the last time you had a vacation?’ Junmyeon chipped in suddenly, looking at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun thought about it. He couldn’t remember.

‘Looks to me like you’re overworked. Maybe a week off will do you well, focus on some other things, go to a nice resort or something.’

Baekhyun glanced between the two, they both seemed convinced it was an option at least worth considering.

‘Actually, why don’t you accompany Jongdae to this tattoo convention he has?’ Junmyeon asked. ‘Usually I go, but I have some other obligations. You know your way around the shop well enough.’

Jongdae snorted. ‘That’s hardly a holiday, he won’t be any better rested from that.’

Junmyeon put his finger to his lips.

‘Would you want that?’ Baekhyun asked him.

‘You’re more than welcome, I could use a bit of help.’ He shrugged.

Baekhyun glanced back at the artbook. He had never been to a tattoo convention before, but the prospect of so many art and artists alike in one place was intriguing. With how often Baekhyun was in the shop, he knew enough to assist, from colour coding to preparing and cleaning tools. Could be fun.

‘Sure.’

A few days later, Baekhyun got a call from Minseok to train with him. And thus, the next morning he went to his mansion. Minseok told him to sleep over for a few days so Baekhyun packed extra clothing and items.

At the door he was greeted by Minseok, who rushed him inside and took his bag from him.

‘So glad to have you, Baekhyun. Are you doing well?’ They walked into the kitchen where Luhan sat, who had the same enthusiasm as Minseok in welcoming him.

‘You guys are freaking me out. Did Jongdae tell you I was dying or what?’

Minseok laughed and patted his shoulder. ‘He told me we had to be extra kind to you. Are we laying it on too thick?’

‘A little.’

Minseok laid down his usual routine for the next days while they had breakfast. He was taking it easy on him, Minseok assigned them quite a bit of spare time. After breakfast they warmed up for an hour, took a ten minute break, trained for an hour, then had a larger break with a small snack before training until noon. Training in an empty ring was different from what Baekhyun was used to, but it was a pleasant experience. For once, Baekhyun could hear the music playing in the background, something that was impossible with all the noise pollution at the skate hall. He didn’t have to pay attention to other riders, or wait his turn taking a jump. After the large break, Minseok came over to watch him train.

Of course at that moment Baekhyun had to slip up and miss a landing, just quick enough to jump off the bike and land on his feet.

‘That was almost good, why did you hesitate?’

‘Hesitate? No I biffed it.’

‘Yeah, because your start was already lacking speed.’ Minseok came over with his phone, showing a video that he just shot of him. Looking back, he indeed didn’t paddle at full strength.

Minseok let Baekhyun do his trick again, and again, showing him the video of himself each time afterwards.

‘What I see most in riders stagnating, is they either are too hesitant to try new things, or too hesitant to be injured. Don’t let fear consume your talent, commit like you want to die.’

Baekhyun swallowed.

When they returned to the house, Luhan had made them lunch. Sandwiches, richly stacked with various condiments. Baekhyun was giddy, his lunches were usually more mundane.

‘So do you always eat lunch together?’

Minseok was chewing his food, so Luhan answered. ‘We try to, we’re both home so often anyway. Is training going well?’

Baekhyun shrugged.

‘Yeah, we’re doing well. How’s your work going?’

Luhan glanced at Baekhyun before his gaze landed on Minseok. ‘It’s going well, I was a little bored so I tried to look into that… Stuff for Jongdae. I think I found something interesting.’

‘Great!’ Minseok replied. Baekhyun raised his eyebrow at the vague description, but didn’t comment.

Minseok and Baekhyun cleaned up the table after lunch before resuming training. Or at least, so Baekhyun thought, until Minseok commented how nice the weather was and suggested going swimming. Behind the kitchen the house had an indoor swimming pool. Not having thought they did, Baekhyun borrowed a swimsuit from one of the guys. Minseok couldn’t identify whose it was, but he promised they were clean.

The pool was a delightful temperature after the cold shower they had taken to rinse of their sweat beforehand. Baekhyun leaned on a pool noodle, his muscles untensing as he floated with his head just above the water.

‘So do you always only train 4 to 5 hours a day?’ He asked after joining Minseok at the airpressed bubble bath.

‘Yup! I don’t want to exert my body to a breaking point anymore. I fell for that trap once, training till my hands were calloused and my knees rickety. Jongdae told me you were overworking yourself.’

‘I guess, compared to you.’ Baekhyun made long hours, but everyone did in the scene. Those he spoke to knew the daily grind and swore by its effectiveness. ‘Honestly, it never feels like enough.’

Minseok shot him a glance. ‘That’s why I thought you’d make it far, back when we first met.’

‘You did?’

‘Yeah. Your tricks and jumps are always super clean. You’re a perfectionist. The few competitions I’ve seen you in before we talked, you had a path in mind. And look where you at now, haven’t you walked it?’

Baekhyun contemplated the words. He had come a long way, even if he didn’t see much progress the last few months, if he compared it to when he started competing in adult competitions, he had made major steps.

‘So don’t be so hard on yourself. Give your body some rest, have some fun in your life. Suck a dick, you know, all the good stuff.’

Baekhyun tittered. ‘Thanks, I’ll think about it.’

After half an hour of soaking in the water, they returned to training for another hour. It was 2 pm when Minseok called it quits. The rest of the afternoon they took off. Baekhyun was a little restless in someone else’s home doing nothing, so he went to watch tv for the majority of his time. Minseok read a book and later Luhan joined them for a coffee and tea. Minseok excused himself to make dinner, and at 6pm sharp they were at the dining table.

‘I have to ask, Baekhyun, what’s with you and Jongdae?’ Luhan asked.

Minseok turned his head.

‘I…’ He couldn’t see say what was between them. After they kissed a few days ago, nothing changed. Maybe it was just an in the moment thing. ‘I don’t know what you’re asking. We’re friends, I guess?’

‘Just friends?’

‘Don’t you want to be more?’ Minseok chipped in.

‘Maybe. I don’t know. Did Jongdae tell you anything?’

Minseok and Luhan looked at each other. ‘Maybe.’

He wondered what Jongdae talked to them about. Before he could ask, the topic switched and Minseok were Luhan having a more private conversation. Seeing the two interact, and the way they live with each other raised a sense of want in Baekhyun. A place of his own was something Baekhyun had thought about before, but it never appealed to him because would it really feel like a home if he lived there alone?

Baekhyun stayed for 2 more days, living and training with Minseok. By the last day, he saw a noticeable change in his physical wellbeing. It also helped Minseok had called in a masseuse on the second day, who had ridden him from all the cricks in his body.

‘Thank you so much for letting me train with you.’

‘Of course, you’re welcome anytime. Don’t be a stranger, Baekhyun,’ Minseok said.

‘Yeah, come visit more often!’ Luhan added, giving him a hug goodbye at the door.

Baekhyun stepped on his bike with a content feeling. He thought about how he could implement a calmer work schedule for himself, and maybe take more time to have good lunches every day.

The days before the convention, Jongdae had Baekhyun come in the parlour often. He explained to him all the tasks he wanted him to do, as well as giving him an extra explanation about the ink colours, hygiene protocols and safety procedures. Those weren’t difficult after the amount of time spent in the tattoo parlour. He particularly liked the colour selected ink. For a tattoo artist, black-inked tattoos were most commonly requested, but Jongdae’s art was mostly known for the colours dotted around the variable shades of black. ‘It requires more touch-ups over the years, but that means more money for me too.’ Jongdae had once told him with a chuckle.

The last evening before the convention, Baekhyun helped him pack all the equipment. They sat next to each other as they filled the last suitcase, Jongdae passing him the items.

‘Thanks for helping me once again, Baekhyun. I’m very grateful.’

‘Don’t mention it. I am quite excited about it as well.’ Baekhyun smiled happily at Jongdae, forgetting for a moment to accept the item in Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae returned the smile, absently letting go of the item. It dropped between Baekhyun’s hands, right on the floor.

‘Ay, look what you did!’ Jongdae whined and slapped Baekhyun.

‘How was that my fault?!’ Baekhyun gasped in pretend offense.

‘Tss, don’t make me say it. You know what you did.’

‘Do enlighten me.’ Baekhyun challenged in return. Jongdae suddenly seemed more shy, simpering as he glanced away. He shot a short glance at Baekhyun. The range of emotions reflecting on his face were countless, all so easily read. Baekhyun felt his heart skip and took in a big breath.

‘Because you distracted me with your pretty smile. How dare you!’ Jongdae pouted again.

Baekhyun hid his own face with his hands. ‘Oh, stop it, you~’

They both laughed. Like a child’s first love they shot each other glances, wordless flirts and pleas. Drawn to each other, they moved closer. Baekhyun felt the man’s breath fall on his collarbones. He thanked himself for wearing a shirt with such loose fitting collar.

Time stood still at that time, Jongdae was just a breathe away, literally, and Baekhyun had no clue how to proceed. He drew back and grabbed the item forgotten on the floor, quickly packing it in the suitcase with utter care. Jongdae chuckled, but didn’t mention it anymore.

They finished the last stuff quietly. Jongdae told a story of a time his biker gang got into trouble by a ‘rivalling’ gang – rivalling only because they were out for blood even when Jongdae and his brothers and sisters did nothing. Baekhyun waited for Jongdae to lock up the shop and place the last few items in the van he had borrowed from Yifan.

‘Ready for tomorrow?’ Jongdae leaned against his bike, looking expectantly at Baekhyun. ‘You better be, it’ll be hectic and I need you to be focused. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7, ‘kay?’ Outside, leaned against his bike while wearing his leather jacket, Jongdae looked so different than how he had looked inside. In his light grey tee, warm smiles all evening. Baekhyun couldn’t decide which side he liked best, but it made him grateful to see them both on him.

‘I won’t disappoint you!’ Baekhyun said. He hugged Jongdae, by lack of anything more appropriate to do. They both lingered close too long, the hug extending to more than just a goodbye one. In Jongdae’s embrace, Baekhyun felt comfortable. The heat of his body, the whiff of Jongdae’s cologne. Just a hinge from what was left when he must have sprayed it on in the morning.

‘Sweet dreams,’ Jongdae whispered in his ear, his lips lightly brushing against it.

Baekhyun had barely slept when his alarm awoke him, 6 am in the morning. His body was sluggish, but he was excited to go to the convention. He rushed through the hour to get ready, with Jongdae arriving at 7 with the white van. They packed Baekhyun’s luggage in the small space that was left and headed off.

They arrived at the event hall no later than 8am. The hall the tattoo convention was held was stacked with booths and various points of interests. Jongdae was already marching into the direction his booth was supposed to be at, map in hand, while Baekhyun took a moment to take everything in. Besides tattoo artists’ booths, other booths were specialized in piercings, art books and alternative clothing, whatever still had some sort of relevance with the subject at hand. Baekhyun also spotted the food corner and several photo studios. He was still enthralled when he found the way to Jongdae’s booth. The man in question was already busy setting up the banners, the luggage case he brought spread open in front of it. Baekhyun let him do arrange the setup while he emptied the van. Like the other booths, Jongdae had brought all his own equipment, including lighting, a foldable shelf for the ink and other items, and the chair for his prospective clients. On the already present table, Jongdae stalled out his art books with tattoos and sketches alike.

It took them a measly 30 minutes to put everything into place, both carrying a smile on their faces as they stared at their work.

‘Looks good, right?’ Jongdae asked.

‘Definitely!’

Before long, the halls were opened to the public and a steady stream of visitors passed through. It didn’t take long before someone approached the booth and Jongdae jumped in to string up a conversation. Baekhyun observed while he pretended to busy himself with setting up the last bits of equipment. He had never done this before, so finding out how Jongdae deals with the potential clients was important to emulate it when his time would come.

When the visitor left, Baekhyun joined Jongdae at the table.

‘You’re really good at this,’ he said.

‘So will you be, don’t be nervous!’ Jongdae slapped Baekhyun’s shoulder.

It didn’t take long before Baekhyun got his shot. And another one, and another. The convention was slowly reaching its peak of visitors inside and the pathways were filled up nicely. A lot of them came over to talk to Jongdae or Baekhyun, going through the artbooks, a few committed to a tattoo right on the spot. With Jongdae tattooing, Baekhyun was twice as busy accommodating those interested in Jongdae’s work. He also had responsibility for setting up the station for Jongdae to work at and clean up afterwards. 

‘Hey, aren’t you…?’ One visitor tapped Baekhyun’s shoulder. ‘You’re that BMXer, right?’

Baekhyun cocked his head. ‘Yeah, Baekhyun. You’re also…?’

‘Yeah man, I saw you at the Ultimate X tournament last year, you are mad skilled, bro!’

‘Ohh, thank you.’ Baekhyun stammered. He hadn’t expected to meet another BMXer, let alone someone who knew him.

As the man continued to flatter him, other people started to notice their conversation and stuck around seeing what it was about.

‘Can I get a picture? I was hoping to see you at this year’s Ultimate X, where were you, bro?’ The guy prodded.

‘I was having a break, you know. Focus on other things.’ Baekhyun posed for the selfie, feeling awkwardly aware of the other people staring.

‘Cool, dude,’ he said and raised two fingers to him as he walked off. With him gone, the other people closed in and asked for pictures as well.

Five minutes and a good 10 selfies made later, Jongdae appeared at his side and dragged him away from the horde.

‘You looked like you needed some saving,’ he said, passing a bottle of water to him.

‘Thanks. I don’t know how that happened…’

‘You don’t? Aren’t you a pretty big deal in your scene?’

‘Me? No, I’m far from it.’ Baekhyun scratched his head. He was often recognized in the ring, but that’s because the same faces are always present. ‘Besides, half of those people asking for pictures don’t even know me, they just bandwagon it.’

Baekhyun’s stomach roared, stealing the attention away.

‘Let’s first fix that. It’s already 2 pm after all.’ Jongdae swung an arm around Baekhyun and took him to the food corner, reassuring him that one of the neighbouring booths will look over their stuff while they’re gone. They grabbed a rice dish to share and sat down on one of the picnic tables, only a quarter of the bench left for them two to squeeze in.

‘So, how are you liking it so far?’ Jongdae placed a hand on Baekhyun’s thigh.

Baekhyun did really enjoy it. It was hectic, but exciting. The people he spoke to were friendly and enthusiastic about Jongdae’s work. They would get even more excited when Baekhyun showed them one of his own tattoos done by the tattoo artist. As time ticked by, his exhaustion grew. He felt a headache already present from the lack of water he drank and the noises.

‘I really like it, thank you for inviting me.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘I should be thanking you, you’re of great help. I would have died if I had to do this all by myself.’ He leaned in and placed his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder, his eyes still on Baekhyun as he cutely expressed his gratitude.

Baekhyun dug his fingers in Jongdae’s hair. For the occasion he styled it upwards, showing off his slightly glistening forehead. Baekhyun leaned in and kissed it, silently returning the thanks once again. He felt reenergized, almost like he had just learned there is more to his world than becoming the best BMXer. Being someone’s sidekick didn’t give him the enthralling adrenaline shot of the competition, nor the overwhelming feeling when he is declared a winner. Instead, this feeling hummed in his chest, feeling accomplishment from hard labour.

A man approached and asked for Jongdae’s attention. He shot Baekhyun an apologetic face, his eyebrows arched in steep lines, before he turned to the man. His hand was still on Baekhyun’s thigh, his thumb smoothing over the seam of his skinny jeans.

The next hours passed by with the tasks at hand, Jongdae finding more people to tattoo and Baekhyun becoming more slick into striking conversations and handing out business cards. He felt himself getting more used to multitasking too. He basked in pride after he got a compliment from Jongdae telling him he picked out all the right colours so quickly. They had another break at 7pm, when Jongdae just finished up a tattoo as Baekhyun returned with their noodle bowls.

‘You’re a hero!’ He yelled, exercising his wrists to get the ache out of them. A habit he had, no matter how long he had been inking before. They stayed at the booth while they ate. There weren’t that many people anymore, just a few leisurely strolling through the booths with no specific plan in mind. Either Jongdae or Baekhyun would jump up when one did appear interested enough, but most apologized for disturbing and told them to continue eating while they looked through the artbooks. 

‘How do you do all this? I’m friggin’ tired.’ Baekhyun bemoaned. With his energy depleted, he wished he could just lie in bed and fall asleep.

Jongdae shrugged. ‘It’s easy when you do what you love.’

‘Don’t you ever wish you had a store in the big city?’

‘Sometimes, but I rather stay close to my friends. Besides, I make a name out of myself through social media and these conventions. People will easily travel hours for an artwork they like, so I’m not worried. Have you ever thought about moving away, Mr. famous BMXer?’

‘No. Never.’

Jongdae snorted and hid his mouth behind his mouth. ‘Of course you haven’t.’

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

Jongdae puffed his lips and said nasally, ‘Baekkie only thinks about bicycling.’

Baekhyun reached out and squeezed Jongdae’s cheeks between his fingers. ‘Nu uh, I think about more!’

‘Oh, like?’

‘Like, music… And… Cute boys, and stupid friends.’

Jongdae raised his eyebrow. ‘Surely you must be a genius for such intellectual thoughts.’

Baekhyun laughed. ‘Shut up.’

‘Do you also think about me?’ Jongdae asked in a small voice, simpering even when Baekhyun’s fingers still occupied his jaw. He suddenly seemed a lot closer to Baekhyun than he did before, the air constricting around them.

‘I said cute boys.’ He leaned into him. Unspoken they stared at each other through the bridges of their noses, until their lips met. Even though they kissed before, this felt new again. Jongdae pulled away first, smirking as he gave another small peck and got off his seat to walk to the table. Baekhyun turned around only to find out there was someone waiting for Jongdae’s attention. He quickly busied himself with cleaning up their empty bowls.

Baekhyun returned to his seat. He sat back and watched how Jongdae worked on his new client, as he had done plenty of times before. Because it was an improv tattoo, Jongdae drew straight on his skin what he wanted. The client was confident it’d look good regardless of not having drawn it out beforehand, probably taking into account his design was taken from one of Jongdae’s artbooks with a few minor tweaks. Once the initial size was approved, Jongdae sketched a bit more details with another skin-friendly pen before asking the client to take a seat.

‘Colours?’

‘Hmm, some purple tones, not sure which one.’

Baekhyun prepared the dyes and placed them on the tray. Jongdae acknowledged him with a glance as he got to work.

It was already nearing 10 pm, the time of closing, when Jongdae shook Baekhyun from the mindless staring at the floor he had been doing for the last 20 minutes.

‘Hey Baek, why don’t you go bring some of our luggage upstairs? Not sure how long this’ll take, but you look like you need some rest.’

And with that, Baekhyun made himself useful again. They had already checked into the hotel so that saved some time. The hotel room was spacious with a beautiful view of the city, as expected on the 16th floor. Baekhyun claimed the bed near the bathroom as he usually would do, assuming Jongdae wouldn’t mind anyhow. He was already in his PJs, showered and ready for bed, when Jongdae came to the hotel room. Jongdae busied himself unpacking his items and threw his PJs on his bed.

‘You held yourself up well today, Baekhyun. I’m impressed.’ Jongdae smiled at Baekhyun, eyes hooded.

‘I did, didn’t I?’ Baekhyun replied. He irked an eyebrow at the other, feeling the atmosphere in the room shifting. Jongdae continued to rummage through his luggage, then disappeared into the bathroom to freshen up.

Jongdae re-emerged, the tips of his hair wet and the front lacing of his pants undone, partially covered by his black T-shirt. If he noticed Baekhyun’s gaze on him, he didn’t mention it as he crossed the room to grab more toiletries.

‘Baek?’ He asked when he walked past him again, this time he must have noticed the staring. He took a few steps, standing still in front of Baekhyun.

Nerves hit him suddenly, anxious and excited for what was to come if he raised his head. So he didn’t. He just looked forward, staring at the graphic text on Jongdae’s T-shirt, pretending the dark red fabric underneath the undone pants were not his boxers. Jongdae slid his fingers in Baekhyun’s hair, brushing it slowly.

He bent forward, his face impossibly close to the others face suddenly. ‘What do you want, Baekhyun?’ His voice a whisper. He was so hot. And Baekhyun, not as much as he sat frozen.

Jongdae chuckled and patted Baekhyun’s head. For a moment Baekhyun thought the opportunity was gone, but then Jongdae leaned in and kissed the corner of his lips. ‘Hmm?’ He moaned against him, stirring the flame in Baekhyun to finally move. Baekhyun put his hands on Jongdae’s back and pulled him onto the bed. They clumsily crawled upwards until Baekhyun’s head rested on his pillow all the while kissing. Jongdae laid on top of him with his arms supporting his upper body. Baekhyun duly noted how firm his arm muscles were up close.

Jongdae seemed to notice the glance too, smirking while he tensed the muscle. He grazed his lips over Baekhyun’s, demanding the attention on his lips again. They kissed for what seemed like both a second and ages. Baekhyun’s jaw ached, but the taste of Jongdae was too delicious to deny. Its appeal only grew stronger when Jongdae took off his shirt, his pants following soon after with the help of Baekhyun. Baekhyun had never seen this much skin of the other, and the amount of tattoos being revealed was astonishing. His whole body was basically covered.

‘I thought you didn’t wear underwear?’ Baekhyun asked. He used a finger to stretch the band of the red fabric, the band slapping back onto Jongdae’s skin with a loud noise.

‘Only on formal occasions.’ Jongdae winked. Jongdae helped Baekhyun undress, awkwardly as he sat against the headboard. Jongdae filled in the empty space quickly enough, his hands roaming Baekhyun’s naked body while his lips attached to Baekhyun’s again. Baekhyun’s arousal was clear without any clothes to hide it, but Jongdae’s state wasn’t much better judging from the bulge in his boxers. Despite its noticeable presence urging for attention, neither made a move to satisfy those urges. Jongdae had moved his mouth to Baekhyun’s collarbone, leaving sweet kisses while his hands played with his nipples.

Baekhyun moaned. Unused to the attention these days, his nipples seemed extra sensitive. He revelled in it, hitting his head against the wall when he leaned back. ‘Do you have lube?’

Jongdae nodded against his skin. He retracted himself, pecked Baekhyun on the lips and hurried to his suitcase to grab it. A quick step got him out of his underwear, standing entirely naked before the bed. The sight of his member standing tall made Baekhyun cave into his primal urges.

‘Nice,’ Baekhyun whispered. For a small moment he finally had Jongdae shy, his cheeks turning a brighter colour. Then he returned in the hands of Baekhyun again, stealing a spot on Baekhyun’s lap and kissing his neck.

‘How do you want to do it?’ Jongdae asked between kisses. He handed over the lube wordlessly, leaving the decision to Baekhyun to make while he grinded onto him.

‘Lay me down, I need dick in me.’

Jongdae chuckled, taken aback by the sudden remark. He sat back on the bed. ‘Okay. Can you turn around?’

Baekhyun did so, revealing his bottom to the other. The action felt vulgar and embarrassing. When he felt the wetness of the lube spread around his rim, those thoughts were lost on him.

‘Can I-’

‘Yeah, go.’ Baekhyun replied impatiently.

Only belatedly did he realize Jongdae had asked for something else, when he felt wet muscle penetrate him. Jongdae’s tongue slid through his tight rim with ease, comfortable compared to the hardness of a bony finger. He ate him out slowly, moaning against his hole every so often like the pleasure was entirely his.

‘Fuck, Jongdae,’ Baekhyun mumbled, feeling hot and bothered from the sheer reactions of the other. The muscles in his lower stomach were twitching from pleasure, trying to build up the orgasm he was not yet willing to have. Jongdae seemed to notice it too, turning Baekhyun to lie on his back. He was careful to place the pillows comfortable for Baekhyun.

Like a priced possession, Jongdae took a moment to appreciate the sight. He sat on his knees before him, his cock heavy. ‘I never imagined you’d look this good like this.’ He grinned and kissed him. ‘So hot, I’ve been wishing for this to happen for so long.’

Baekhyun rolled out a condom over Jongdae’s cock and teased it with a few tugs before coating it with more lube. He guided Jongdae’s hips closer and aligned himself for the other. When the other breached his rim Baekhyun moaned and tilted his head back.

Jongdae mumbled something and attached his lips to Baekhyun’s jaw, alternating between pecks and kitten licks. When Baekhyun became aware of him holding his breath and released it, Jongdae moved his hips, slowly building up to find a pace they could both agree on. Sex with Jongdae was nice, almost sensual with the way his body moved and the moans he led out. Certainly worth doing over, Baekhyun belatedly noted when his body peaked and stuttered through its orgasm with sweet release. Jongdae stilled not long after, snuggling his head into the nape of Baekhyun’s neck and pressing small kisses.

‘Was it good?’

Baekhyun kissed his cheek. ‘I cannot complain.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘You could be at least a bit more enthusiastic.’

‘Thank you for my saviour, your cock, to fill me up so good I almost didn’t feel tired anymore. How about that?’

‘Too much.’ Jongdae playfully slapped Baekhyun’s stomach, regretting it when he realized they hadn’t cleaned themselves yet. 

Jongdae strove to his luggage, fishing out clean underwear before returning from the bathroom dressed in it and carrying a wet towel. Baekhyun accepted the towel and cleaned himself under the blankets, feeling a little exposed naked now that their minds sobered up. Jongdae laid down on his own bed.

‘Are you…?’ Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae pulled up the end of the bed sheet and patted his hand on the mattress. ‘Yours is dirty.’

Baekhyun rushed over to the other’s bed, finding arms around him as soon as he laid down. Jongdae was curled up against him, which, to his defence, was kind of necessary considering the size of the bed.

‘Sleep tight.’ The words fell against deaf ears, Jongdae’s breath had already stabilized in a steady slow rhythm. So he was tired after all.

Jongdae’s alarm woke them up at 7.30 am. Despite being tired as hell, Baekhyun hadn’t slept throughout the whole night. His body wasn’t used to sharing such a small space with another person, stirring him awake whenever Jongdae would move a leg or hand. The advantage was waking up in someone’s arms, turning around and snuggling against the person’s warm chest.

‘Morning,’ Jongdae said. He dragged up his slouching body and shuffled across the room to get to his luggage. It was an adorable sight, another new side of him that Baekhyun had yet to discover.

Struggling to share the bathroom, Baekhyun escaped with a toothbrush in his mouth, only to return rushing to the sink, nearly spilling toothpaste on his shirt for being carelessly brushing with his mouth agape. Jongdae laughed, a towel pressed against his face muffling the noise.

‘Shuddup.’ Baekhyun shot him a glance. ‘I’m claiming the bathroom now.’ He went ahead and started washing his face, paying the other no heed.

Jongdae shrugged and accepted the little space provided to continue cleaning his face.

‘You know, you should join me for more conventions. I really appreciate your help.’

Baekhyun was flattered. He enjoyed himself yesterday and was looking forward towards the second day at the convention, even though he felt spent after such a long day with little rest. ‘Next time I’ll be asking for payment.’

Jongdae smiled. ‘You want a raise? I’m already paying you more than I did Junmyeon.’

‘Then give me something extra.’ Baekhyun splashed his own face while he said it, avoiding the confrontation.

‘Are you an actual pervert, Baekhyun? You always seemed so clean cut to me,’ Jongdae said with a chuckle.

‘Maybe. I doubt you’re any better than me, though.’

‘You’re right,’ Jongdae replied and shoved Baekhyun out of the way to reach the sink. ‘Maybe I’ll show you that another time.’

The hotel’s breakfast buffet in its pristine and expensively decorated room of whites and golds looked horribly out of place to the people eating there. People with most of their skin inked, unique hairstyles and clothing to match, the few non-convention going hotel guests looked on with mild interest as if they were watching a free freakshow. It was marvellous, Baekhyun thought. Jongdae was more interested in the open buffet to their right, leaving the former behind in favour of the chocolate cupcakes he spotted.

Baekhyun was the first to take seat. Jongdae was stopped by some exhibitors. He looked so natural, chatting with them, sharing laughter and exchanging business cards. Baekhyun enjoyed watching him in his element, or maybe the tingles of last night were still present in his body, acting up when he looked at him. He was put out of his daze when an unknown man glanced at him.

‘Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun, right? Mind if I sit here for a moment?’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘You know me?’

‘Of course, you’re a BMXer right? I’ve been seeing your face around the scene for a while now. What are you doing here?’

‘I’m helping a friend… And you are?’

The man extended a hand. ‘Lee Taemin, I’m a dancer at an Extreme Sports show named X-Jump.’ X-Jump was a touring show with various stunts from different sports like BMX, skateboarders, trampolines. It was the extent of Baekhyun’s knowledge.

‘Nice to meet you.’

‘I don’t have that much time so I’ll keep it brief, but we’re always looking for new people to add to our show. I think your talent would be a great asset to a new performance they’re putting together. Maybe you want to come check it out some time?’ Taemin slid a business card over the table.

‘I’ll think about it.’

Just then Jongdae joined them at the table.

‘Thank you for your time, Baekhyun. Call me!’ The dancer, and also producer according to his card, said and excused himself.

Jongdae watched the man walk away and shot Baekhyun a glance.

‘Sorry for the hold up. I see you made a friend?’

Baekhyun told him about the proposition he had received.

‘That’s interesting, do you want to check it out?’

‘I don’t know.’ He could use a stable income, but he didn’t know how taxing it would be on his competitive career.

Jongdae tipped his head before redirecting the conversation. ‘We should leave a little earlier so we can roam around the convention hall. We haven’t even seen all there is to see.’

Baekhyun raised his glass to that. ‘As long as we walk a bit slow, my back hurts.’

***

A filling breakfast later, they were roaming around the various booths that were still in the works of getting everything set up again.

‘Do you ever look at other tattoo artists to see if you like their work?’ Jongdae asked. He had been wondering why Baekhyun had grown so fond of his work, with so many good artists around he guessed it was more convenience, or his fanboyish love for Minseok.

‘Not really. Do you?’

‘Well I can’t really tattoo myself, can I?’ Jongdae laughed.

‘The great Jongdae can’t?!’ Baekhyun gasped. ‘But you had some tattoos done by yourself, right?’

‘Yeah, on my legs. Reaching my back is a little difficult...’

‘Point taken. Oh, let’s make a picture together!’ Baekhyun pointed to a photobooth.

Their playtime ended when they returned to the booth and the first visitors made their rounds again. The second day was always busier with tattoos. Most fanatics would go through the booths on Saturday and find their favourites to get their tattoo done the next day, having had a night’s rest to contemplate their decision. It left Baekhyun mostly arming the front while Jongdae tattooed his day away. It almost went unnoticed his friends came to visit him, until they stood in front of him and waved excitedly.

‘Minseok! You’re here, how great. Oh, and you brought Luhan?’ Jongdae excused himself from his client to hug his friend.

‘Of course, gotta see the Dream Team in action, eh?’

Jongdae looked behind Minseok to see Luhan and Baekhyun in conversation. He huddled close to Minseok to reply, ‘about that…’

His smirk must have said enough as Minseok gasped and shook Jongdae’s arm in delight. ‘No way?!’ He said too loud. Luhan irked an eyebrow at them, Baekhyun glancing behind him to spot what was going on.

‘Tell me more about it later.’ Minseok gave a friendly stomp to Jongdae’s upper arm and an overdramatic wink. Jongdae shooed him away and returned to his work.

It was a little weird, being the artist of the booth but getting all the attention stolen away. With Minseok grabbing most of the attention and Baekhyun being recognized quite a few times as well, Jongdae was still slaving away in the back. It didn’t bother him in the slightest. If anything, it was good marketing as Minseok was basically a living advertisement for Jongdae’s work, and a damn good one with the following he had garnered over the years. Minseok always tried to visit Jongdae at the tattoo conventions he had his booth at, and Jongdae was eternally grateful for it.

Minseok and Luhan left half an hour later, having had Minseok’s fair share of photographs and noisiness of being recognized. Jongdae spent the rest of the day inking while Baekhyun manned the stand and eventually started cleaning up when the day came to a close.

Jongdae stretched as the last client left. On cue, Baekhyun passed him to clean up the last of the supplies he used.

‘Thanks, Baekhyun.’ He wondered if they fell on deaf ears as Baekhyun busied himself without a word. Jongdae stretched his fingers, a little unfocused and tired he stood. He stirred when Baekhyun put an arm around his waist and smiled from his side.

‘Let’s go home,’ he said and pecked Jongdae on the cheek. Before Jongdae could pull him in for a proper kiss, Baekhyun was already leading him away with the last suitcase in his other hand.

With the day coming to an end, sitting in the van in front of Baekhyun’s parental home, Jongdae felt unwilling to say goodbye. Jongdae hurried out of the van to grab the man’s luggage.

‘Such a gentleman,’ the other commented.

‘Of course.’

Baekhyun unlocked the door and turned to Jongdae.

‘Goodnight kiss?’ Jongdae asked. Baekhyun leaned in and they kissed. Then he pulled Jongdae closer, and kissed him again.

‘What are we?’ He asked when he pulled away. His face was so close to his face. Baekhyun looked youthful and without flaws from far away, but within this distance Jongdae could see the small imperfections of his skin, the glistening of dried sweat on his temples, the slight hollow curve of his cheek. Handsome, for sure.

‘Hmm?’ Baekhyun cocked his head. Shit, Jongdae hadn’t even listened. ‘What do you want?’ He asked softly.

‘I really like you, Baekhyun. I’ve liked you for a while now. I want this to be something more, and I hope you think of it the same way.’ Jongdae held his heart while he waited for a reply, suddenly insecure that he might have read the situation differently.

Baekhyun suddenly smiled. ‘I like you too, and I think we can make a cute couple.’

Jongdae sighed, feeling a smile creep on his face. ‘Great.’

‘Great…’ Baekhyun whispered back and kissed him again. For a moment it felt like his whole world was only Baekhyun, and he felt a happiness he couldn’t express. Even when Baekhyun said goodbye and closed the door behind him, Jongdae still couldn’t contain his smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Things were looking up. With his newly established relationship with Jongdae, Baekhyun felt invigorated. Finding his motivation back, training came easier to him too. When he qualified for a major competition, competing against Minseok, he had screamed his lunges out. Minseok had booked them into a hotel two days before to continue training at the competition ground. It was more commonly done, Minseok had said. Baekhyun believed him after they reached the practice ring the next day, littered with the best of the best. He recognized some faces, even some celebrity BMXers from different parts of the world.

Both confident they entered the third day, competition day. Minseok was second to last for his performance. Baekhyun already had to prepare for his time, being the 5th in line. 

Before his name called him out to the ring, he lost himself in his thoughts. With how well things were going, he hadn’t thought much about the proposition from X-Jump. Jongdae asked about it a few times, and his mind digested the thoughts of a new course in his life developing. He promised himself to look into it if he would reach second place, a silly boost to do well, he hoped. His name rang through the speakers and he was thrown into the chaos.

From the first jump on he succeeded, the total control he had on himself and the bike gave him the confidence to do his planned routine perfectly, or as near perfection as he would be able to. The little nod of approval he received from renowned BMXers as he walked past them at the participant benches made him gleam all the more. 

Baekhyun rushed to Minseok afterwards. Adrenaline still ran through his blood and he was feeling better than he had ever done before. All that he had practiced showed. Minseok spotted him and hugged him with the same enthusiasm Baekhyun was harbouring in himself.

‘Jeez Baek, that was amazing. For sure you’ll be in top 3!’

‘Thanks. I can’t believe how well it went?! You really think I can get a medal?’

‘The competition is killing, but your performance was beyond. I am starting to get a little nervous for my own ranking.’ Minseok winked.

‘I expect nothing less from you.’

Minseok’s gaze was off into the distance. ‘I think I’ll have to pull something extra if I want to win.’

Baekhyun glanced at him. ‘Don’t you always do that?’

Minseok chuckled. ‘I try to. There is a new trick I learned, but I don’t know if I can perform it under pressure yet... Today we will found out, eh?’

As the tournament progressed, Minseok started to quiet down. That was unusual, because the nerves normally made him chattier than usual.

‘Ready?’ Baekhyun asked when he walked him to the start platform.

Minseok shook his head. ‘I have a bad feeling.’

‘Good luck!’ Baekhyun cheered him on as he got on his bike. ‘You’ll ace it!’

Minseok was over half of his course, the practiced tricks fluid and seamlessly progressing from one to another. Then he suddenly took a left turn and paddled full power towards the quarter pipe. The jump was much higher than was usual. With one leg he propelled the back wheel round, aiming to go full circle before he’d tab back onto earth. His landing was off and the core of the bike hit the quarter pipe’s edge, snapping the aluminium framework in half. He was launched against the steering wheel with his head, then subsequently dropped back head first onto the concrete. The crowd momentarily gasped and few screamed, then became deafeningly quiet as they watched the motionless body.

Baekhyun’s thoughts became a blur as he watched the spectacle unfold, the paramedics running while the crowd finally found its voice. It formed a rummage of noise. Baekhyun’s body was on autopilot, as he suddenly found himself next to the medics and looked at his unconscious friend. The medics checked his vitals and then put him on a stretcher. One of the staff pulled him away.

‘Why are you here?’ He asked.

‘He’s my friend, I need to stay with him.’

The staff member looked at him with a stern gaze. ‘Fine, put his bike away and meet us at the ambulance. Let the medics do their work.’

Baekhyun puffed. He glanced around for the bike, finding the two pieces scattered with one at the end of the track, logged between the ground and a bar.

In the ambulance, Baekhyun held Minseok’s hand, after which the medics stopped trying to get him out. Minseok stirred and mumbled. None of the medical brothers or Baekhyun could figure out what he said.

‘Brain damage,’ one of them stated bluntly. Others kept their mouths shut after sharing glances between themselves and Baekhyun. A know-it-all comment was probably swallowed, because who’d have guessed an extreme sport could lead to that?

In the hospital Baekhyun called Luhan, timid about his reaction. Minseok had him on speed dial, something he had once seen him use to call him.

‘Hey dear, how did it go?’ The voice on the other line said.

‘Hey Luhan.’

‘Wha-... Baekhyun? Why are you calling me on Min’s phone?’

Baekhyun swallowed hard. ‘He fell off his bike. We’re in the hospital.’

‘How bad?’

‘He was unconscious when I saw him off into the E.R., they’re guessing brain damage.’

‘Shit.’ There was some rummaging going on in the back. ‘Keep me updated, I’ll go book a flight.’

‘Okay,’ Baekhyun replied. He felt numb, as if delivering the news had suddenly given him clarification of what had happened. Everyone knows the dangers of the sport, but it was still hard to believe it actually happened to a friend.

In the late afternoon, Baekhyun was notified of Minseok’s awakening. Luckily he had just finished his meal at the canteen, a good excuse to leave the elderly man that had stricken a conversation with him.

‘Sorry!’ He bowed and rushed off. Minseok shared the room with three others, one middle aged woman and two elderly ladies. The room was sterile, with white everything. Compared to when he laid in the ambulance, Minseok’s face had a lot more colour.

‘Minseok! You’re awake. How are you feeling?’

‘I’m drugged up on morphine, so I guess I’m doing well.’ He smiled ruefully.

‘Do you know why you’re in here?’

He nodded slowly. ‘I had an accident on the bike. It happens. Am I in the Saint George hospital?’ referring to the city hospital near their towns.

‘No. You’re across the country. Don’t worry, you’ll be home in no time.’

‘Thanks. So, who are you?’

Baekhyun blinked. ‘I’m Baekhyun, you don’t remember? We travelled here.’

Minseok hummed. ‘I am sorry, I must be bad at faces.’

Baekhyun reached for the clipboard with health documents at the feet of the bed. The doctors could have told him they suspected memory loss. The file also said Minseok had told them he was 21 years old. Just at that moment a nurse walked in and held her hand out for the clipboard.

‘You’re his friend? We don’t have any information on him, do you have an ID card or passport of him?’

‘I registered him about 30 minutes ago.’ One of the staff for the tournament had brought Minseok’s belonging, who had previously left it at the waiting room, to the hotel.

The nurse left again, leaving Minseok and Baekhyun.

‘You told them you’re 21 years old?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘I am.’

‘Where do you live?’

‘I live with Jongdae in Yawkshire city centre. I recently moved there. How is Jongdae doing, do you actually know him?’

‘He’s fine. I haven’t told him yet, would you like me to call him?’

‘Okay...’

Baekhyun fished out the phone out of his pocket and called Jongdae. He listened if it came through and then gave it to Minseok.

Jongdae answered the phone and a smile appeared on Minseok’s lips. Out of respect Baekhyun tried not to follow the conversation, but it was hard when he saw Minseok go through an array of emotions.

Despite the situation in which they called, Minseok seemed more comfortable. Just when he returned the phone to Baekhyun, the nurse came inside again.

‘So, Mr. Kim, with regret I have to tell you that you are suffering from amnesia. We believe it’ll be short term, as the MRI-scan we performed showed little to no permanent brain damage.’ The nurse looked at her clipboard. ‘What date were you born?’

‘March 26th, 1990.’

‘And how old are you now?’

Minseok hesitated. His eyes shifted towards the nurse and his hands on his lap. ‘I guess I’m not 21 years old, am I?’

‘I’m sorry,’ the nurse said. Then she turned to Baekhyun. ‘He can be released tomorrow, are you in contact with his parents or caretaker?’

Minseok’s eyes narrowed on Baekhyun. He could have sworn he subtly shook his head.

‘I don’t have any of those contacts. His boyfriend is notified and will pick us up, so I think he’ll arrange everything.’

The nurse tapped the pen on her clipboard and wrote something. ‘Excellent, if help is needed you can ring the bell. A nurse will check up on him every two hours to ensure he’ll remain stable.’ And with that she walked off again.

‘So I have a boyfriend now?’ Minseok asked a bit incredulously. ‘What’s he like?’

Baekhyun scratched his head and walked to the bed, holding onto the iron bars. He didn’t know Luhan that well, when he came over to train with Minseok, the former was usually doing his own thing elsewhere in the house. ‘Uh, he’s nice. Really nice. I bet he’s worried sick about you right now.’

Minseok simpered in a way Baekhyun had not seen him do before.

‘Are you okay?’ He asked.

Minseok pouted slightly and twiddled his fingers. ‘I’m just, weirded out. I wake up in a strange hospital, with a stranger at my bedside who says I have a boyfriend. Last thing I remembered was having breakfast with Jongdae before he left for work…’

Baekhyun swallowed the lump that got caught in his throat. He started telling tales about Minseok’s life to him, to the best of his abilities, like how Baekhyun had idolized him, and then miraculously was able to get into contact with him and even more of a miracle was that Minseok had actually been putting effort into including Baekhyun into his life. Then he talked about the tales Jongdae had told him about their lives, and how Minseok had got to know Luhan through Jongdae. By the end of it, Baekhyun was sitting at the feet of Minseok’s bed and Minseok had a genuine smile on his face. It was interesting to see this side of Minseok, who seemed a lot more subdued and closed off than the one he’d come to know. If he was 21 years old in his mind, he was still at the start of his budding career.

‘What about what you remember, tell me what your life is like.’ Baekhyun asked.

‘My life? I’m practicing every day at a ring near my shared apartment to become better at BMX. It’s not that amazing, just training every day, falling on my ass every 30 minutes. Is my ass still blue these days?’

‘Can’t say I have seen your ass, we’ll let your boyfriend judge.’ Baekhyun joked back.

Minseok blushed and stuttered a bit.

‘What about your family, do they support you?’

Minseok’s grin dissipated in an instance. ‘I wish. First they were supportive of my hobby, but when I felt like I could become more with it, they disapproved it. Things didn’t get better when they caught me playing with boys, so I left my parental home and moved in with Jongdae. He was living in Yawkshire at the time, being an apprentice to become a tattoo artist. We were able to meet each other every evening at the ring, he on a skateboard, I on a bike. Those evenings were the best.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that…’

‘It’s fine. You learn from those things, eh? And I guess you can tell me where it got me in the future.’

At 9pm someone knocked on the door, followed by the door opening and Luhan appearing from behind it. Baekhyun had kept him up to date with Minseok’s condition, which showed as Luhan hesitantly walked closer to the two. Baekhyun jumped off the bed to make space.

‘Hey, Minseok. How are you doing?’ Luhan asked.

Minseok shot a glance at Baekhyun before replying with a ‘as good as I can be in my situation.’.

‘This is your boyfriend, Minseok.’ Baekhyun filled in.

Luhan smiled shyly as Minseok gaped at him for a moment.

‘Baekhyun, how did I manage to get such a handsome boyfriend?’ He asked when he found his voice again. It lightened the mood, though Minseok continued to be a little more shy than he was even to Baekhyun. Their interaction was a little odd, Luhan tried to get over the initial awkwardness of being introduced as his boyfriend despite Minseok having no recollection of him, while Minseok was all in all more quiet, stuttering slightly when he did speak and fidgeting with his fingers.

Luhan and Baekhyun returned to the shared hotel room of Baekhyun and Minseok to rest.

The next morning Baekhyun was called awake. Luhan stirred in his bed and Baekhyun quickly rushed out of the room with his phone.

‘Good morning, am I speaking with Mr. Byun, BMX contestant number 6?’

‘That’s correct.’

‘You were absent from the prize reveal. I’d like to inform you that you won first place and therefore entered the finals of the Triple Fire international competition too. Can you confirm your presence?’ The person said.

Baekhyun stared at the ground, disbelieving what he heard. With the accident, Baekhyun had completely forgotten about the competition, let alone the good chances he had. He confirmed his presence, but with the call over, the numbness sank in. He should be excited, but with the circumstances, how could he? He’d keep it for himself for now. He didn’t want to know how Luhan would react, was he a traitor for accepting this? Quietly, Baekhyun returned to his bed. Luhan mumbled something, but Baekhyun didn’t know if that was towards him or not. He kept himself curled up into the blankets until their alarms went off.

The rest of the day was filled with waiting at the hospital, then at the airport. Jongdae picked them up and brought Minseok and Luhan back to the mansion. Minseok decided to stay with Luhan despite Jongdae offering a bed at his apartment.

Turning away from the couple, Jongdae swung an arm around Baekhyun on their way to the car.

‘How much did you tell Minseok about us?’

‘Nothing, really.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘That explains, Minseok told me to text him what we were all about, because he said you had a look in your eyes while talking about me.’

‘I did not!’ Baekhyun yelled in mock offense. ‘Guess the puzzle clicked when he saw us kiss, eh?’

‘Now he’ll bully me about my type in men, back then he always wondered what I liked.’ Jongdae smiled. Jongdae had taken the news of his memory loss well. From the moment Baekhyun texted him the details, he had been positive of a recovery. Perhaps it was easier on him, Minseok still knew him after all. ‘Now we all depend on you to bring in the trophies, Baek,’

‘I do have a better shot without Minseok as my competitor… But I’ve been questioning whether I should continue.’

‘Why? You can’t just quit, certainly not now.’

‘It would be unfair. My friend and idol is an amnesiac and he doesn’t even know me anymore, and all I want is to get the trophies he could have won?’

‘Yeah, that’s exactly what he would want!’ Jongdae exclaimed. ‘He won’t lose his memory forever. When he gets them back, how cool is it to hear that all the competitions he didn’t participate, his friend won? I can already hear him chuckle and then sigh contently before giving some snide comment, as he does when he is proud. He loves you, Baekhyun, even if he doesn’t remember that now.’

Jongdae wrapped an arm around him.

‘Come stay at my apartment.’

***

Jongdae drove them back, arriving at a small condo ten minutes later.

‘I’m sorry the room is a little messy.’ Jongdae warned when they stepped inside.

‘You call this messy? I will not invite you to my room then.’ Baekhyun joked, looking around in the living room. Rather than messy with garbage, it was just Jongdae had a lot of things not stored properly. Baekhyun turned to him, a glint in his eyes as he approached him and wrapped his arms around him.

‘How about we first have some fun and then order some take out?’

‘Weren’t you on a diet?’

‘Sttt.’ Baekhyun put his finger on Jongdae’s lips, then pulled it away to kiss him.

Jongdae was all too eager to return it. Baekhyun gave peckish kisses on his jaw while he slowly guided him towards the bedroom.

Once in the room, Baekhyun placed a hand under Jongdae’s shirt and pulled it over his head. There he marvelled over Jongdae’s body, trailing a finger over the artworks etched into it.

‘How long have you had this one?’ Baekhyun pointed to an engine inspired statue, decorated with vines coming through the machinery.

‘Hmm, 5 years now? I drew it a few years prior when my friends and I trespassed in an abandoned amusement park.’

Baekhyun hummed. The way his eyes scanned over his tattoos, his body, made Jongdae feel all sorts of things. The open admiration was something he wasn’t used to, but he liked it. He then pushed Jongdae to the bed, hands on his pants in a second.

‘Can I take it off?’

Jongdae unbuttoned it for him before Baekhyun took over.

‘Aren’t you a little too eager?’ Jongdae said with a chuckle.

‘Maybe. Is that a problem?’ he arched an eyebrow before he threw off Jongdae’s pants in one sweep. It was a good choice to forego the leather pants today, Jongdae thought in hindsight. Baekhyun took his length in hands and played with it before sinking to his knees to settle between Jongdae’s legs. He licked the crown of his member before taking it into his mouth.

Jongdae strained his arm to reach his bed cabinet and get the lube out, giving it to the other with a smirk.

He gave his member one drawn out lick and grabbed the lube. ‘Guess I’m not the only eager one, eh.’

He continued his administrations while he coated his fingers with lube. Pushing Jongdae’s legs up for better access, he slid one finger into his tight hole.

‘Your fingers are so pretty,’ Jongdae remarked after having felt the slender lengths inside him. His mind had gone through these thoughts before, but he never dared believe it to become reality.

Baekhyun chuckled against his dick and the oddity of it turned Jongdae on even more. All the little tricks he did made him feel so many things. From the curl of a finger inside him, to the skittish kisses on his inner thigh to sucking his balls. The heat came too fast and quick, before he could stop Baekhyun from his work, he came in his mouth. It caught them both by surprise. Baekhyun blinked, letting some of the cum drip from his mouth onto Jongdae’s dick before he swallowed.

Jongdae came down from his high with red cheeks which he couldn’t only attribute to positives. He got up and wiped Baekhyun’s mouth with his hand.

‘I am so sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen-.’

‘That was... Fast.’ Was all Baekhyun said. Jongdae pulled him from the floor and set him down next to him on the bed.

‘Yeah, uh, I... I should have warned you I’m a little... Very sensitive.’

Baekhyun nodded slowly. ‘So this is something that happens more often?’

Jongdae really didn’t want to have this conversation now, but I guess he was left with no choice. ‘Yeah. It’s less quick when I’m by myself, but the foreign touch is just a little too much sometimes. I’m getting better at it though, like last time. I’m sorry, I should have warned you before.’

Baekhyun cupped his cheek. ‘Don’t feel so bad about it. It was just a little surprising. Can we still continue?’

Jongdae nodded. ‘Yeah, you’re still fully clothed after all.’

They shared a smile, which relieved Jongdae. He still felt a little shaken, but Baekhyun didn’t dwell on it as he undressed in front of his eyes. He returned his lips to Jongdae’s, rubbing his lube stained fingers through Jongdae’s hair and pushing him into the sheets. They made out for several minutes.

‘Want to pull up your legs for me?’ He asked. Jongdae complied, lying at his side and placing one over Baekhyun’s hips. It gave enough space for Baekhyun to reach his behind. After coating his fingers again, he gave his hole the extra stretch once more. Jongdae’s hands roamed the other’s body, noticing the differences between them. Where Jongdae was skinny with arm muscles and a chest covered in black ink, Baekhyun’s was all lean muscles and a blank slate of a body besides the few Jongdae had done for him. Not enough to show a clear six pack, but on touch the muscles were tightly woven right underneath his skin.

Then he wrapped a hand around Baekhyun’s member, tugging it lightly. He was rewarded by Baekhyun’s moans, muffled by his own mouth on his.

‘Can I?’ Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae sighed to calm himself, then nodded.

Baekhyun took it slow as he aligned himself before Jongdae, peppering his neck with kisses as he filled him. Jongdae moaned filthily, momentarily stunning him from his own voice.

‘Hot,’ Baekhyun said. He had a satisfied smirk on his face, eyeliner intensifying his blown pupils. He was an enigma, how he can be so silly and pouty one second, then a sex god the other. Even though he’d already shot his load, the growing ache in his lower region itched for release again.

‘Fuck you’re so good, so handsome, I want you so much,’ Baekhyun said with a heavy breath into Jongdae’s ear, his hips moving erratically.

With one last thrust he shuddered to a halt. He dropped himself on Jongdae’s chest, pressing a kiss right in the middle.

‘Damn, Baekhyun.’ Jongdae trailed his hands through his hair, the tips of it damp from sweat.

Like a switch, Baekhyun glanced up with puppy eyes from where he laid. ‘That was nice. You’re good, Jongdae.’

Jongdae chuckled. ‘So are you, dear.’

Jongdae’s phone rang. He had been deep asleep, his moves grouchy as he blindly reached for his phone and accepted the call.

‘What?’ his tone was harsher than he felt. Baekhyun stirred next to him. Facing Jongdae, he wormed himself against Jongdae with arms splayed over him.

‘Jongdae, sorry to call you this late.’ It was Yifan, sounding unlike himself.

‘It’s okay, what’s wrong?’

‘The garage.. My garage is burning down. I want to warn you they could get your shop next.’

‘Who, what? Burning?’

Yifan’s voice raised an octave. ‘Those Devil’s Desert fuckers, I don’t know why but they fucking burned the garage down.’

Jongdae sat up abruptly, dropping Baekhyun from his lap. ‘Where are you now?’

‘I’m with the fire department at the garage right now, they’re trying to control the flames.’

Jongdae jumped out of bed. ‘I’ll come to you.’ He hung up before he could hear anything else from him.

‘What’s going on?’ Baekhyun asked, who was sitting upright in bed now.

‘I have to go, Yifan’s garage is burning down.’ Jongdae dressed in lightning speed and ran for the door. He could hear Baekhyun tell him to wait, but he ignored it.

Yifan’s garage was on the way to the next town where his tattoo parlour was located. Turning the corner into the street, smoke chimneyed from the building with its pollution tainting the otherwise clear sky. There were two fire trucks, but to Jongdae’s surprise, no police car. Jongdae pulled up next to Yifan, who he had spotted outside with one firefighter. He noticed him too and raised a hand.

‘Jongdae, you’re fast.’ He hugged him. Yifan’s hands were shaking even when he had them pressed against Jongdae’s back.

‘Are you alright?’ Jongdae made sure to keep him encased in the hug for a little bit longer.

‘Yeah.. I just need to let it sink in.’ He let go of Jongdae and rubbed his forehead. ‘I’m just glad my mom is out of town right now. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if she was here and the fire went unnoticed for too long…’

‘Don’t say that,’ Jongdae said, feeling the eerie dread of the potential harm his friend and his mother could be in, ‘I’m happy you managed to escape unharmed.’

They talked a bit about their mutual suspicions on who the culprit could be, but Yifan couldn’t figure out what would have caused them to lash out like this. Jongdae’s face paled when he thought about the week before when Kyungsoo and he stole a motorcycle. They never given it back. Jongdae’s heels sunk into the ground thinking that might have been the cause of this sudden attack.

‘Now shoo, go to your tattoo shop. Don’t want to see the place you worked so hard on burn down as well,’ Yifan said with a grimace. If he noticed Jongdae’s distressed state, he didn’t mention it.

‘Will you be alright here? Want me to pick you up afterwards? You can stay at my place.’

Yifan waved an arm. ‘Thanks, Jongdae, I really appreciate that but Junmyeon is picking me up soon.’

‘Alright. Call me when you need me.’

‘Likewise.’ Yifan nodded firmly.

Jongdae thought about the impact of tonight on his way over. Surely they wouldn’t strike twice in one night, but if they had any ill intent, they could strike whenever. Would he have to worry for his shop for the rest of the year now, hoping they can amend with them to prevent it from actually happening?

Upon arrival, his parlour was indeed still intact and like usual. He went inside and brought his artbooks along just to be sure. Perhaps he should invest in a second, fireproof, safe. He noted the other artworks on the wall, including those of Yixing and other well-respected artists. It would be a real shame if it would burn down.

He got back in the dead of night. As quiet as possible he returned to his bedroom, but when he pulled the blanket over his body, Baekhyun stirred.

‘Jongdae?’

‘Sorry for waking you up twice, Baekhyun.’ He snug towards Baekhyun and kissed his nose.

‘What was this about?’ Baekhyun propped himself up on one arm. ‘I know it has something to do with your biker gang.’

‘It’s nothing, you don’t need to worry about it.’

Baekhyun scoffed. ‘Why don’t you ever tell me about it?’

‘I don’t want to concern you with it. And I don’t want you to dislike me again.’

It was not an answer Baekhyun was hoping for as he smacked Jongdae’s arm.

‘If we want this to work, I want to know what you’re up to. I’ve been accepting your ‘lifestyle’ since you’ve started tattooing me, but you still leave me in the dark about your life…’

‘Please, can we have this conversation another time?’

Baekhyun muttered, but kept his mouth. Jongdae kissed him and cuddled up against him.

‘I’m sorry, Baekhyun.’

The next morning Jongdae was roused awake by his phone ringing. Why did it keep doing that. This time it was Luhan.

‘Isn’t it a little early to be calling now?’

‘It’s 10am, get over it. Anyway, I found some interesting stuff you might want to see. Check your e-mail. Also, Minseok tells me to tell you that you shouldn’t do anything stupid. Fat chance that’ll happen.’ He hung up.

Jongdae opened the e-mail on his phone and couldn’t contain a gasp. Luhan shared classified files from the police station, alluding to a possible money laundering scheme. Worse yet was the names underneath it included high ranking sheriffs on the station. He returned the phone call to Luhan.

‘Okay what the fuck is this, how did you even get it?’

Baekhyun next to him stirred as well, glancing at him with one eye half opened.

‘I hacked into the database, but most documents have been tampered. I’m trying to figure out where their location is, I’ll let you know when I find it.’

Luhan hung up again.

‘What’s going on?’ Baekhyun asked, putting one arm around Jongdae’s waist to pull him closer.

Jongdae cupped his face but couldn’t look at him. ‘Luhan sent me a weird e-mail, about some fake tattoo artist fucking up customers’ tattoos and getting them infected and such.’

‘You are a horrible liar.’

‘I know,’ Jongdae sighed, ‘I don’t want to involve you in this. After it’s over I’ll tell you everything, but just for now please don’t ask about it.’

Baekhyun removed himself from the bed and went into the bathroom. He returned and stood in front of Jongdae with his arms crossed.

‘What am I to do with you? Why can’t you be honest? You said you liked me, can’t you share these things with me?’

Jongdae grabbed his hand and stroked the palm of his hand. He really wanted to be honest with him, but now was not the time. The whole ordeal hadn’t sat right with him for a long while now, and it had to end if he wanted to have a sustainable relationship with Baekhyun.

‘Please, Baekhyun… I don’t know what to say, except that I really like you and I don’t want you to be harmed.’

‘Yeah because you’re doing dangerous shit. You get a call in the middle of the night about something burning and you come home and don’t even tell me about it?’

Jongdae kissed his temple. ‘Give me a week. I swear I’ll tell you everything.’

Baekhyun led out a deep sigh. ‘Just… Don’t get injured.’

Jongdae’s heart fluttered from the thought Baekhyun cared so much about him, but he felt anxious about the fact that they were already at the brink of breaking up after they’ve only been together for a few weeks.

In the afternoon Jongdae rounded up his friends to discuss what Luhan had sent him. They met up at the burned down garage. Yifan looked tired, having been at the police station to report the incident for the longest time. The area was white with ash, the once shining vehicles in the garage were crushed underneath the collapsed roof.

‘So all we gotta do is find the location they forge money and report it to the police?’ Junmyeon asked. Doubtful, the police had not supported them before so why would they think this would catch on.

‘Better idea; snap pictures and post it online. If federal law enforcement finds out about the corrupt local police, they’ll have to interject,’ Kyungsoo said.

‘You’re brilliant, Kyungsoo,’ Junmyeon said. They spent the rest of the hour collecting what items they’d need, not thinking too much about the potential consequences.

When dawn set, they rode out with two bikes. Kyungsoo behind Sehun and Jongdae behind Junmyeon, for the small chance someone would get injured and couldn’t ride their own bike home anymore. The last thing they needed was the blame to be shifted to them. Sehun had taken the precautionary measures of bringing along knives and brass knuckles. Everyone wore their motorcycle gear, so they were decently protected. They rode to the location Luhan had sent in the afternoon. It was just outside the their town, at the abandoned construction project. Junmyeon shivered between the arms Jongdae held around him while the former rode. Sehun and Kyungsoo were rowdier, or maybe they were chatty from nerves.

Circled around the vicinities, the navigation didn’t latch onto the right coordinates. They split up to scout the area, keeping in touch through their headsets. Their bikes were hidden at a wood covered bus stop.

‘Why are you so mopey?’ Junmyeon asked. Jongdae didn’t notice he had been sighing so much.

‘I just want this to be over with.’

‘Still worried about Baekhyun?’

Jongdae bit his lip. ‘We got into an argument about all this. I’m afraid he’ll dump me if I keep things from him any longer.’

Junmyeon scoffed. ‘Can’t blame him now, can you?’

‘I can’t... That’s why I hate myself right now.’

‘Please hate yourself another time, and focus.’ Kyungsoo’s voice rang through the headset.

‘Yes boss.’

Junmyeon and Jongdae peeked into the windows of two buildings before the headset cracked and Sehun started speaking through it.

‘I found it, guys. I think I found it.’ His voice strained from what Jongdae could only imagine as a mix of supressed fear or excitement.

Jongdae spotted Junmyeon at the adjacent place where he was scouting, nodded, and they moved to where Sehun would be.

The building looked as inconspicuous as all the others, similar in style, the windows blinded, desolated. Sehun unhinged the lock, a surprisingly easy feat for it to be such illegal territory. With their helmets removed, they exchanged glances with each other before they headed in, Kyungsoo first after Sehun had his bravado slip him. The passage led from a small hallway into a larger room, it’s size dwarfed from the amount of furniture inside. In one corner stood around 4 washing machines, in the middle white cheap tables filled the floor with office supplies, papers, and most of all, cash, on it. The rest of the room held several stacked boxes, packages and a corner with what seemed like abandoned electronics.

‘So, what exactly are we looking at?’ Junmyeon was the first to speak up, the rest of them speechless from what they found.

‘I googled what a money laundering scheme was supposed to look like, and this fits the bill quite well…’ Sehun replied, filming the inside of one of the washing machines with his phone.

That they had found what they were looking for was not expected. Jongdae was so sure it would have all been a fake. He hurried through some of the papers on the desk, Kyungsoo mimicking him with another heap of papers, trying to find anything useful. If they could just get some names on paper on whose involved, it’d make things a lot easier. Sehun and Junmyeon made pictures of everything they could find.

As minutes ticked by, the sense of urgency started piling up. Kyungsoo grew more and more frustrated with the useless documents he went through, and Sehun joined them into looking as well, having acquired as much video evidence to at least start an investigation.

‘I’ll go keep watch outside,’ Junmyeon said and rushed to the door. He didn’t stay away for long.

‘Guys! We have visitors…’

***

The evening Baekhyun came back from Jongdae and the subsequent training day, he texted Chanyeol to meet up. He had too many thoughts on his mind that needed airing. They met up an hour later, cycling to a closed of site Zitao had once brought Baekhyun to. It was already dark outside, the construction site was barely lit either. Only the street lights near the fencing shed some light on the concrete framework, guarded by high metal fencing.

Chanyeol crossed his arms.

‘Are you sure about this? Since when did you become such a bad boy, Baekhyun?’

‘Last time I came by they had a trash container around, we can easily go over the fence there.’ Baekhyun wisely ignored him. On the container, Baekhyun helped to lift each of their bikes to Chanyeol so he could throw them over the fence. Though Baekhyun was already tired from his long day of training, the excitement kept him light on his feet.

They found an entrance and climbed the few stone stairs. They stood on the second flight of stairs of the to-be apartment complex.

‘Hasn’t this building been here for ages? When are they finally going to finish it?’

Chanyeol shrugged. ‘Bet the funds ran out, or they figured nobody would be interested in living in our rundown town.’

The floors were not yet incorporated, there were only the structure pillars, the outer walls and the staircases, all laid in concrete. It left them standing on the edge of a three meter drop. Below them was the concrete floor, a container and miscellaneous construction items. It gave them a vantage point to improvised ramps and high jumps, with a high risk of injury.

‘So, are you not going to talk about what’s on your-’ Baekhyun jumped before Chanyeol could finish his question. He landed on the container a floor below, the metal caging producing a blunt noise on impact.

‘Come on, you next !’

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. ‘I see how it is, you get a bad boyfriend and now suddenly you’re mister Mysterious yourself.’ He jumped and landed near Baekhyun.

‘You’ve become rusty.’ Baekhyun smirked and pointed to the next objective. ‘Take a sprint and hit the barrel, this time you have to show off something.’

The next jump was a vertical one, the gap being reasonable within Chanyeol’s reach of skill if he bunny hopped it. Using the momentum of the hop, he spun his hind wheel around to complete a full 360 before landing on the barrel. It wasn’t a clean jump and caused his wheel to slip on the roundness of the surface. Just in time, he straightened his steering wheel before he rolled off the barrel, hitting the concrete with his front wheel and doubling over his wheel. He chafed his chin, but was otherwise unharmed.

‘You okay?’ Baekhyun yelled from atop the container.

Chanyeol lifted a thumb up. Baekhyun followed, but made the same mistake on the barrel and nearly fell face first on the ground.

‘You were supposed to learn from my mistake.’ Chanyeol joked and extended a hand to Baekhyun on the floor.

‘Shush, you.’ The next few tries went better and they routinely cycled around the site to find new spots to try. There were a few concrete blocks and lose material for them to use as leverage for jumps and tricks.

Chanyeol was the first to call quits and they sat down to rest, followed by Baekhyun after a few more runs.

‘So, tell me what is going on.’ He prompted.

‘Well first off, Jongdae is doing shady stuff and he doesn’t tell me about it, and I’m re-evaluating my life choices, again.’ Baekhyun played with the string of his shoe lace.

Chanyeol blinked. ‘Is one of those things positive?’

‘Maybe. I got asked to visit X-Jump, that touring show, for a possible job interview.’

‘What? That’s great, Baekhyun!’ Chanyeol embraced him, but didn’t continue when he felt Baekhyun slack against him. ‘Or not?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I think it’d be nice, but what if I don’t have enough time to compete anymore?’

‘Is that was the case, would that really be so bad? You’ve been training yourself to death, even at competitions it’s rare to see you smile these days.’

Baekhyun remained quiet.

‘Maybe the change will give you the purpose in life you’ve been looking for. Weren’t you complaining your motives for sports end up being mostly extrinsic? If you want validation, applause, and friendship, such shows are great for that. You’ll be recognized for your talent without the competitiveness that is draining your self-esteem.’

‘You really know me better than I know myself, Chanyeol…’

Chanyeol squeezed his arm. ‘Of course. Now what’s this drama about your boyfriend?’

Baekhyun sighed. He explained what happened last night.

‘But didn’t you already know he was trouble from before you knew him? Why are you holding him accountable for that?’

‘I just… He’s not like that with me, you know? He’s so bright and lively and cute, I don’t want to acknowledge he is doing illegal shit. He could at least be honest with me…’

Chanyeol bit his lip. ‘I don’t know. If he really likes you, he’ll tell you someday, right?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘We’ll see about that… Okay I’m sick of sitting around, I’m going to ride around again.’ He got up and extended his hand to Chanyeol. As he pulled him up, Baekhyun mumbled a thanks. In return, the man slapped his shoulder.

‘You’re doing fine, Baekhyun. Focus on happy things.’

They spent another half hour BMXing. Chanyeol called out suddenly and Baekhyun came to a halt after he landed his jump.

‘What’s up?’

Chanyeol held a finger against his lips. Baekhyun calmed his breath and listened. Engines rang loudly a few blocks away. They ascended on the unfinished staircase to a higher level and turned to the open square in the concrete, one where a window would be at some point in the future. There wasn’t much to see.

‘I’ve heard that those desserts motor gang presumably has their hideout around these parts, because you can always hear motors around this neighbourhood,’ Chanyeol said.

They waited and watched. They were hit by surprise when they saw two characters pop up behind one of the sheds, their helmets still on. Baekhyun squinted his eyes. That posture, the leather pants.

‘Fuck, that’s Jongdae.’

‘What? Are you sure?’

Baekhyun got up and rushed down, retrieving his bike while Chanyeol was hot on his tail.

‘Where are you going?’

‘I’m going to have a closer look.’ He didn’t trust it for one second. Jongdae had been acting too vague these days for it to be nothing at all, and he’d regret not finding out now that he had the chance. Chanyeol joined him. They rushed to the location. They found two motor cycles. Neither belonging to Jongdae.

‘Are you sure you saw Jongdae?’

‘We’ve come this far, even if I’m not sure, we’ll investigate.’

They walked further until they came across one of the buildings that had a door open. They sneaked towards the door. They received the scare of their life when a figure suddenly appeared, promptly bummed into Baekhyun, causing Chanyeol to bump into Baekhyun who had come to a full stop from it.

‘Sorry!’ In the rush Baekhyun turned around and wanted to sprint away, but was halted when he heard Chanyeol speak.

‘Junmyeon?’

‘What are you two doing here?!’ Junmyeon whispered, the tone sharp from the pressure he put onto keeping his voice down. He didn’t wait for an answer as he turned back into the building. They followed him. ‘Guys! We have visitors.’

The look on the three bikers’ faces as Baekhyun and Chanyeol appeared would have been laughable if it wasn’t such a dire situation. Kyungsoo was the first to pull his face into a frown, clicking his tongue and turning away into some papers.

‘Baek, what are you doing here?’ Jongdae rushed forward, whether to greet or yell, Baekhyun didn’t know.

Being confronted like this was not in the plan. If they didn’t run into Junmyeon, they could have just peeked a glance inside and turn back home. Then again, as he glanced around, maybe his curiosity about the place would have led him inside either way.

‘You need to lea-.’ Jongdae’s voice fell as they heard engines outside.

‘Shit,’ Sehun voiced for all of them.

Jongdae pulled Baekhyun by his arm. ‘You need to leave, Baekhyun.’ He led him to a backdoor, looking around for a moment before he spotted a crowbar and grabbed it. His arms bulged as he put all his strength into levering the wrench from the lock, the metal tearing from the wooden door.

‘Jongdae, I’m sorry.’ Baekhyun panicked. He didn’t know what to say, nor what to do or what was going on.

Jongdae slammed the door open and hugged the wall, glancing around the corner.

‘Jongdae, please, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to do.’ His tears welled, surprising not only himself but also Jongdae. The latter fitted his hand on Baekhyun’s cheek.

‘You need to run and hide. If you were to get injured, your chances for the internationals will be ruined. Go, okay?’ His former harsh tone was replaced by a soft, almost pleading one.

Baekhyun ran.

***

Jongdae swallowed as he saw Baekhyun run away, as if his heart wasn’t already heavy enough about the whole ordeal. He stepped back into the house. Sehun, Junmyeon, and surprisingly, Chanyeol, were armed with brass knuckles and miscellaneous items. A ruckus came from the other room.

‘What was that?’

‘Kyungsoo. We found a computer, he’s breaking the motherboard to get the hard drive out.’ It sounded more like a garbage disposal truck than an actual human being ripping on metal, but he digressed. He was about to ask why Chanyeol was up in arms with them, or why they also didn’t run, but the first biker arrived.

‘Well will you look at that. A bunch of kids messing things up, I see?’

The other two that arrived with him were in a severally different state.

‘What the fuck have you been doing?!’

‘One of them is breaking the computer.’ They exchanged glances.

‘Guess we’ll have to make sure you’ll never tell these things, eh?’ The first said. Two more men arrived, outnumbering them by one.

‘You’re going to kill us?’ Chanyeol said. He glanced at Sehun like he’d just lost his mind.

‘I’m afraid you left us no choice. We don’t want this… Sensitive information to go public, you see?’ The man smirked. Jongdae’s blood boiled, it was the same man who’d picked a fight with them at the warehouse before. Jongdae didn’t know how true those words would ring, but he wasn’t going to find out without a fight.

With no moment to spare, the men attacked. Two of them carried knives, while the others attacked with bare hands. Junmyeon intercepted an attack aimed at Sehun, the next one targeted him with the knife grazing just past him. By miracle or skill, he was able to disarm the man. The fight was a flurry of chaos. Their party was hesitant to use the metal objects they’d obtained to fight, their damage could have lasting impact if they were not careful enough. Jongdae mainly blocked attacks with the crowbar, whereas Chanyeol used his obtained metal pipe for stabs rather than blunt hits. It didn’t deter their enemies.

‘Fuck!’ Junmyeon yelled out. Chanyeol glanced up at him. Jongdae saw their enemy take notice of it and charged him, knife out. It was a now or never situation, so Jongdae swung the crowbar into his outstretched hand, hitting home. The hollow noise emitted from the blow was guesstimated into a broken bone. Jongdae shivered.

The man cursed as loudly as Junmyeon.

‘Guys.’ Kyungsoo screamed from the other room, helmet in hand as he fled. ‘Out!’

Easier said than done. Junmyeon was down on the floor, hand bloodied against his stomach, separated from them by three of the burly men. They pushed forward as quickly as they inched back.

***

Baekhyun ran at top speed till his lungs gave out before his adrenaline did. He slowed down, nearing where he had left his bike. Despite Jongdae’s urgent words to run, Baekhyun couldn’t leave him and Chanyeol behind. He didn’t know what to do. It was then that he spotted the motorcycles of the bikers. He ran to one of them, hopping on. Thank the Gods Jongdae had taught him how they worked. Keeping on the handbrake, he gassed the engine onto overdrive. The sound it produced was like the roar of a lion, a loud powerful bass. Then, he took off the handbrake and jumped off the motor, a split second and it surged forward into the open door. It crashed right away against the stone wall separating the hall and the rest of the room.

‘What the fuck?!’ He heard someone yell from inside, only audible from the open door. Having promptly blocked their entrance, Baekhyun had spare time to hop onto another motor and drive off, returning to the back door he had once ran from.

The others were pouring out of the room, Chanyeol had an arm supporting Junmyeon. When the man saw Baekhyun, his eyes widened.

‘Baekhyun, help. Junmyeon got stabbed.’

Before he got off, Kyungsoo came around and helped Junmyeon settle on the bike.

‘Take him to the hospital. Chanyeol, go with him.’

‘What about you guys?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘Until the police show up, we’ll be fleeing.’ He physically pushed Baekhyun to ride. As he drove off, Chanyeol sandwiching Junmyeon between the two for them to fit, Jongdae and Sehun came out of the building. He searched for his gaze and found it before he turned the corner. He couldn’t read his eyes, but he hoped they would be fine.

On an unfamiliar motorcycle, without helmets, and two other passengers, with one of them possible bleeding to death, Baekhyun drove them to the nearest hospital. He parked the motor in front of the hospital, struggling to turn off the motor while Chanyeol helped Junmyeon get off and took him inside. He ignored the stares as he went inside, finding Junmyeon on a chair while Chanyeol hung over the assistants’ desk. He sat down next to the victim.

‘How bad is it?’

Junmyeon shrugged. ‘I’ve felt better.’ His face was pale and the hand that was pressed against his side drew back bloody.

‘Fuck.’

Junmyeon smiled weakly. ‘I don’t think it hit any of my organs, I just wish it’d stop bleeding.’

They waited for a brief moment until a nurse came rushing over.

‘This way, please.’

Baekhyun and Chanyeol stood around awkwardly while the nurse attended to Junmyeon. There wasn’t much they could do, but the nurse hadn’t told them to get out of the room either, and they weren’t sure if Junmyeon wanted to be left alone. So there they were, whispering to each other two meters from the examination table where Junmyeon grunted every once in a while as the nurse disinfected the wound.

‘So you stayed to fight with them?’

‘I couldn’t leave, I wouldn’t forgive myself if I ran and any of them would end up dead or permanently injured.’

Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheek.

‘No, Baek, I mean for me. I understand why you left.’ He placed a hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder. ‘Really. You have your tournament coming up.’

‘I feel like a dumbass, I shouldn’t have gone after Jongdae. I got him worried just because I couldn’t accept he held a secret from me.’

Chanyeol remained quiet.

‘At least we got to help them somehow, eh?’ Baekhyun glanced at Junmyeon, who winced from the local anaesthetic. Junmyeon noticed and gave him a weak smile.

‘I’m sorry for ruining your shirt, Baekhyun.’

Baekhyun cocked his head, glancing down. Looked fine. Chanyeol started chuckling and reached the back of his shirt, pulling it to show Baekhyun. A dark stain soaked his beige shirt, Junmyeon must have had his wound pressed against him when they were snugly riding the motorcycle.

Baekhyun pouted, pleasantly surprised when both Junmyeon and Chanyeol laughed. The atmosphere was light for the rest of the hour they had Junmyeon recover from his blood loss before being released. The wound was indeed only a cut into tissue and the nurse promised a full recovery after cleaning up and stitching it up.

With small steps they managed to get Junmyeon to the entrance of the hospital, not because of the wound, but because of him being unable to get a proper amount of oxygen through his body. He was short of breath and had to take several breaks. His face was twisted in a frown and he apologized for the wait each time.

‘Take it easy, we have all day. I’ll go call a taxi for us in the meantime,’ Chanyeol said.

They left the motorcycle in front of the hospital. There wasn’t much to do with it anyway, having it stored in one of their backyards would only complicate their situation.

Once inside the taxi, Chanyeol riding shotgun, they quieted down as their adrenaline was replaced by exhaustion. Junmyeon slummed against the window and Baekhyun felt much the same. The former was shook awake when he got a call.

‘It’s Sehun. He’s home, but Kyungsoo and Jongdae are caught.’

‘By the gang?’

‘By the police.’

They all looked at each other. Junmyeon pressed the phone against his ear again.

‘Now what?’ Baekhyun said.

‘Yeah, I’m on my way home now. Take care, speak to you soon.’ Junmyeon hung up the phone with a frown. ‘Sehun is alright. I think they’ll let Kyungsoo and Jongdae off the hook if they want to-, FUCK. Kyungsoo has the evidence!’

Baekhyun blinked. ‘Evidence?’

‘You mean this evidence?’ Chanyeol waved around a hard drive, the cut wires still attached.

‘How did you get that?’ Junmyeon asked, baffled.

‘Kyungsoo gave it to me before we rode off. Told me it’d be safer with me.’

Junmyeon sighed and sat back. ‘I’d hug you if I could.’

Somehow, Chanyeol and Baekhyun were suddenly part of the whole operation. Junmyeon invited them over to his apartment and after another call with Sehun he came over too. Sehun had a bit of a knack for computers, so he was able to get the hard drive working on Junmyeon’s laptop.

While Sehun and Chanyeol tried breaking into the security of the hard drive, Junmyeon and Baekhyun dozed off on the couch. Or well, Baekhyun rested his eyes while his mind wondered off. How was Jongdae doing, would he be alright? Is he angry at him? Will Baekhyun also be in trouble, would he even be able to go to his world championship tournament…

He snapped out of his thoughts when Sehun stirred suddenly and cursed.

‘Are you kidding me?!’

‘What, what?’ Junmyeon asked, apparently not as dozed off as previously suspected.

‘These files. We already suspected the police to work together, but even some head of the municipality?!’

‘What? But why?’

The answer came a few minutes later, after Sehun and Chanyeol read more of the stored documents. ‘Funding.’ The construction area the money laundering scheme was happening at had a budget that was greatly underestimated, causing the municipality to be in great debt. Rather than budgeting something cheaper or loaning money from the national government, they wished to remain self-sufficient and formed their own contracts to get funding elsewhere.

‘Through fake money they were able to pay for the continuation? That’s dirty, how can this kind of corruption happen?’ Chanyeol asked.

Junmyeon scoffed. ‘Small towns with big dreams. These officials are all the same, always getting greedy for more once they had a lick of power.’ His scepticism ran deep as he filled Baekhyun in on the times he had filed complaints at the local police, never receiving any support for the abuse he and the others received from the motor gang.

The more Baekhyun listened, the more his heart sunk. He had been clueless about this mistreatment. He had seen their injuries, but never knew the extent of the situation. He’d have to have a long talk with Jongdae about this.

‘So why did the police allow this, you think they were bribed?’ Chanyeol said.

Sehun nodded slowly. ‘I think so. The police is definitely corrupt, but I didn’t expect our government officials to be too. How do we go about with this information?’

Sticking to their original plan, they spread the documents on social media, then to local newspapers. Before Baekhyun could find out how it’d go, he had a flight to catch. He sent some messages to Jongdae, but none were replied.

***

Jongdae, Sehun and Kyungsoo ran as fast as they could out of the building towards their motorcycles, tailed by four of the five men. Sehun was fastest, while Jongdae’s speed withdrew as the nagging pain in his knee grew. He hadn’t run in ages, and the strain wouldn’t make him last – even if his fear supressed the worst of the pain.

‘I can’t, guys. Go run ahead.’ Jongdae said through exhaled gasps. The distance between their pursuers decreased. He turned, only to be assailed by one of the men, a pipe hit right on his weak knee.

‘Got ya, fucker.’

Jongdae cried out. A next blow didn’t come. Kyungsoo stood in front of him, Jongdae’s assailant bleeding from the knife Kyungsoo pulled out of him. 

Time passed too quick to understand what was going on. Sirens rang, their enemies fled. Despite the sirens being their saviour, it didn’t last long. Three police men circled them, one pointed a gun at them while the other tackled Kyungsoo to the ground.

‘Lie down on your stomach and spread your arms,’ one said in a stern voice. Jongdae obeyed, and got handcuffed behind his back. The man dragged him up.

‘Please, be careful. My knee, I cannot walk.’ Jongdae’s tears rolled down his cheeks, the pain was too much. His pleas went unheard.

They separated them from each other, taking them to different police cars.

‘Stay strong!’ Kyungsoo yelled before he got shoved into the police car.

Jongdae remained quiet in the car. The men that he had once joked with as he was incarcerated were now showing their true colours. All those times he was caught, the times they brought him in after he was beaten ‘for witness’ testimony’. He could barely look at them anymore.

To his relief, he was reunited with Kyungsoo after testifying to another set of police officers. They were detained for the time being as ‘facts would come to light eventually’.

‘Jongdae!’ Kyungsoo came over and sat next to him on the cold bench. ‘How’s your knee?’

Jongdae shook his head. It was most definitely shattered beyond repair. With Kyungsoo’s big eyes on him, reality sunk in and he cried. The pain of his knee, the major chance of never being able to ride a motorbike or go skateboarding, heck he might never walk normal again. The uncertainty of how Junmyeon is faring with his stab wound, or how his short relationship with Baekhyun might have come to an end already.

Kyungsoo’s arm was wrapped around him as he cried until his emotions dulled over time. He sniffed and rubbed the snot from his nose.

‘Thanks, and sorry.’

‘Don’t say sorry.’ Kyungsoo lightly punched his arm. ‘Things will be alright. The truth will be out soon.’

‘Do you think they’ll find that Harvey we… Borrowed?’

Kyungsoo grinned. ‘I doubt it. I sold it to some guy in the city.’

‘You did what?! I had no clue… What did you do with the money?’

‘I put it in a safe in my home. It’ll help us get a lawyer with all this.’ Kyungsoo got up and stretched his limbs. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this.’

***

With his mind heavy for many reasons, Baekhyun travelled to the championships abroad. Traveling alone was an oddity. Baekhyun hadn’t travelled without Minseok before, not since Minseok always qualified for the international competitions. His thoughts were with his friend, still lying dormant Jongdae, who he had not heard from personally since yesterday in the money laundry location. Sehun had some contact with him. By now, they’d contacted national media and spread the photos of what they found online. From what he could tell, it was spreading among civilians, but he had yet to hear updates to what the higher ups were doing about it.

After a dreadfully long plane ride, mainly due to his brain that wouldn’t shut up, he arrived at the competition hall. There he could lose himself on the training grounds, finding a peace of mind from the physical exercise. It didn’t take long before people noticed him and approach him.

Within a minute there was a flood of questions about Minseok. Baekhyun wondered when the news had reached them and how informed they were.

‘I’m sorry, I’m just here to train. Minseok is managing, please keep an eye on his social media and online articles if you want to know more about him,’ Baekhyun said. He backed off looked for an opening within the crowd, didn’t find one. He shooed the people in front of him with his hand and pushed a way through with the wheel of his bicycle leading the way.

‘Aw, don’t be such a spoilsport,’ someone said. Baekhyun twitched to restrain himself, but kept walking away.

‘What are you so grim for?’

Baekhyun shot up from the familiar voice. ‘Zitao?’

‘That’s me.’ Zitao had an impish grin. Baekhyun hugged him.

‘What are you doing here? Did you qualify as well?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah! Shall we grab some lunch together? You’re looking a little pale.’ His words were hesitant.

‘Let’s go!’ Baekhyun was more than happy for the excuse to be away from the crowd. They didn’t go far, just outside the training grounds they found a small shopping area with some small local restaurants. There, Zitao told him what he had been up to. He confessed he was involved with the wrong crowd, confirming Baekhyun’s concerns from back then.

‘But after I realized my life was dwindling down and I wasn’t having the fun I used to have as I did, I moved places and focused on myself. I also picked up BMX again. I forgot how much fun it was.’

‘Do you still aim to be the best?’

Zitao shrugged, a lopsided smile on his lips. ‘It’s a nice hobby. I started my own company so most of my energy goes to that.’

‘And yet you’re still here. You’ve always had an insane talent.’ Baekhyun confessed easily. There were times he had been envious, and if he was honest, he was happy when he didn’t feel the imaginary competition he created in his mind against Zitao when he had left.

‘So are you. I always admired your perseverance. You never thought about quitting?’

Something withheld him from speaking the truth now, so he shook his head. They chatted for a while, until they returned to the ring to practice after having the food settled down in their stomachs.

‘Nice talking to you again, Baek. You seem to have matured a lot, I’m happy for you. Good luck tomorrow!’ Zitao gave him another hug and waved him goodbye on his bike before he dropped into the pit.

In the evening Baekhyun sat in his hotel room alone. It was quiet, too quiet. He put music on from his phone, picking which song suited his mood best. He settled for a sad ballad. It was weird being out here all by himself. He felt awfully unprepared for the loneliness, and the stress that came with travelling alone, plus the upcoming championships that had to be one of the most important ones in his life. It didn’t feel as such, though. The significance was a lot less enthralling now that he wasn’t surrounded by those close to him hyping it up. He missed Chanyeol’s loudness before a tournament, or the soft-spoken ‘hey, how are you hanging in there?’ from Minseok when he had fallen into silence from the overbearing nerves that he tried so hard to suppress before the big day.

The next day Baekhyun stood at the same ring he stood yesterday, this time amplified in grandiose with the audience filling the seats surrounding it. With some time left, he practiced his routine once. Then he settled on the breaches where some of the other participants were already seated. It seemed like time flew by and he was already getting called to the stage.

Another jump start onto the ring, these rings were starting to look too much alike. He took a deep sigh and let all his thoughts go.

The first drop was the most exhilarating, the speed built from it and the nerves of making the first trick a good impression for what’s to come. He went for the low ramp first, performing a feet-together air trick, his body lifted off the seat and quickly throwing out both legs to one side of the bike, before balancing back onto his seat before the bike touched the ground again. He liked to imagine the crowd was cheering, but noise always cancelled out when he cycled competitively. He found a bank and tail whipped it. A few tricks later and the siren went off to mark his time limit. He put in one last trick before he came to a halt at the end of the half ramp. The deafening noise from the audience returned to his ears and he was ecstatic. He finished his contest as planned. No foul jumps, no slip ups. People gave him pats on the back as he returned to his original seat.

‘You’re definitely going to win!’ his seat neighbour said. Baekhyun recognized him, a seasoned cyclist that did especially well in regional competitions as well. He had also seen him in some of Minseok’s afterparties, so he wasn’t surprised when he dropped his name right after. ‘How’s Minseok doing?’

Baekhyun shrugged. ‘Hanging in there, I suppose.’

The guy scoffed. ‘You know there are journalists out there trying to scoop you up into an interview, you should find something appropriate to say.’ He put an arm around Baekhyun and squeezed him. ‘Cheer up, you did so well in the ring.’

Baekhyun didn’t know what face he was pulling, but he still had to come to terms with the feeling he might be up on stage for the award ceremony. His focus returned when Zitao entered the stage. The year they’ve spent apart had made them both grow. Zitao’s movements were still smooth, albeit slower than they had been. When he finished his final trick and landed, he smiled wider than Baekhyun had thought him capable of.

‘And on second place… Baekhyun Byun!’

He couldn’t remember how he got to the stage, or what he had said into the microphone. His mind completely blanked out until he got off the stage, passed by the winner of the tournament. His phone rang.

‘Hello?’

‘SECOND PLACE!!! GOOD JOB!’ Chanyeol screamed into it.

‘Were you watching the show?’

‘Of course. Okay go have fun, speak to you soon.’ Chanyeol ended the call before Baekhyun could say anything else.

As expected, he was jumped by journalists once he breached the ‘participants only’ section. He thanked Minseok for preparing him those few times he said Baekhyun should practice his interview skills, as the interviewers spat out question after question. Most were related to him and what he’d do next, though some had little remorse about prodding how Minseok was faring and how close their friendship actually was.

In the evening, as he had landed and was waiting for his luggage, he switched off airplane mode on his phone. Messages poured in, but the one that caught his eye was with the ID he wanted to hear from most.

So proud of you, Baekkie~ see you veryy soon <3 sent: 19:23

His heart skipped a beat. After customs declaration, he passed the arrival hall and found Jongdae, a cheesy smile on his face. He ran over and embraced him.

‘Ouch, not so tight please,’ Jongdae winced. Baekhyun released his hold, but Jongdae still clung to him weakly. He belatedly saw the cane he was holding.

‘What are you doing here? How are you? What happened?’

‘Too many questions to answer all at once, but I’m doing fine now that you’re here.’

Baekhyun pouted. ‘I want to say sorry. I shouldn’t have gone after you, I spotted you and I was sick of not trusting you. I put us all in danger, and-’

Jongdae hushed him with a kiss. Once they separated, another attempt was interrupted.

‘You helped bring Junmyeon to the hospital. I don’t want to think about what would have happened to him.’

‘You’re not mad at me?’

‘Shouldn’t I ask the same? I’m sorry for not being honest with you, Baekhyun. I didn’t want to involve you into it as I worried you’d get injured.’

Baekhyun shook his head. ‘At least it’s over now, is it?’

‘Almost, though abstaining information from you definitely is.’ Jongdae kissed him again.

‘If you’ll be like that all evening, I am out of here.’ A familiar voice broke their moment.

‘Chanyeol?’ Baekhyun asked and spotted the tall man standing cross armed.

‘I was advised against riding my motorcycle, so we have a chauffeur,’ Jongdae said with a wry smile.

Chanyeol scoffed. ‘Chauffeur? I’m the one giving you a ride, didn’t you beg me to take you with me?’

‘Sstt, don’t say that!’

Baekhyun let go of Jongdae and ran to his best friend, exchanging a hug.

On the way home they chatted about what had happened in the past days. Baekhyun talked about his victory, whereas Jongdae spoke about the moment when he had seen Baekhyun drive off with Junmyeon and Chanyeol.

‘So Kyungsoo and I ran like crazy to our bikes, but one threw something harsh against my leg and I fell down. Kyungsoo stopped to pull me up, but they were onto us in a split second. I really thought I’d die at that moment.’

‘How did you escape?’

‘We didn’t, they ran when the police showed up. We got arrested and spent three days in detention while the rest of the news got out. Eventually they had to let us go of course, so now we’re suing the lot of them.’

Baekhyun bit his lip. ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.’

Jongdae waved his hand lazily. ‘We were done with the apologies, weren’t we?’ He adjusted his seat, wincing as he did so.

Chanyeol drove them up to Jongdae’s home.

‘Thank you,’ Jongdae nodded and got out the car first. The followed glance from Chanyeol didn’t go unnoticed.

‘Did you tell him something?’ Baekhyun side-eyed him.

‘Just the usual best friend stuff, you know it’s my obligation to give a few threats to make sure he treats you well.’ Chanyeol smirked.

‘That’s fair.’ Baekhyun hugged his friend tight. ‘Thank you, Chanyeol. We’ll meet up soon!’ He rushed out of the car to help Jongdae, who was struggling at the door while balancing on his crutches. Baekhyun fished the keys out of Jongdae’s pocket and unlocked the door.

‘Thanks. It’s easier when I’m in my wheelchair.’ Jongdae hobbled to the couch-turned-bed and sat down, then padded the spot next to him. ‘Come sit down.’

Baekhyun did as told, reaching out to link his hand into Jongdae’s. Their lips met, indulgent and sweet. The stress of the last days ebbed away, with the unwavering warmth of Jongdae gazing at him after they separated. Things were going to be different, and that was going to be okay.

‘Come here,’ Jongdae said and pulled Baekhyun further onto the bed, until Baekhyun laid on top of him. ‘Perfect.’

‘So what’s your plan, when’s your next competition?’

‘I’m going to give that guy from X-Jump a call. See what he can offer me.’

Jongdae brushed a hair behind Baekhyun’s ear. ‘Really? Are you giving up competitions?’’

‘No, but I don’t want it to be a priority anymore. What about you? What will you do now that your knee is shattered?’

Even if it hurt, Jongdae smiled. ‘I don’t know. Maybe find a new hobby, I was thinking about golf. Nobody ever got injured with golf, have they?’

Baekhyun laughed. ‘Golf? Are you sure you’re ready for another neighbourhood fight with old people?’

‘Damn, you’re right… I just thought I should try to rock the cardigan and white golf hat look, to match my limp.’ Jongdae pecked Baekhyun’s cheek. ‘Or maybe you should get a driver’s license and you can tour me around.’

‘I’d like that.’

‘Me too.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading all the way to the end~! I'm always struggling with ending a story but I hope it suffices and you enjoyed the story. 
> 
> Stay safe and (mentally) healthy during these troubling times with the virus outbreak!!


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